


Dreaming One Shots

by jacksgreysays (jacksgreyson)



Series: Walking Around (the Sakako Uchiha 'verse) [1]
Category: Dreaming of Sunshine - Silver Queen, Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Fae, Alternate Universe - Final Fantasy VII Fusion, Alternate Universe - Firefly Fusion, Alternate Universe - Fusion, Alternate Universe - Greek Mythology, Alternate Universe - Leverage Fusion, Alternate Universe - Pokemon Fusion, Alternate Universe - Princess Mononoke Fusion, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, F/F, F/M, Future Fic, Gen, Inspired by Fanfiction, Multi, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-23
Updated: 2018-01-24
Packaged: 2018-06-10 07:15:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 31
Words: 35,488
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6945079
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jacksgreyson/pseuds/jacksgreysays
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Unrelated, Dreaming of Sunshine recursive one shots originally posted on tumblr</p><p>1. Becoming A Legend<br/>2. Stories of Ancient Gods<br/>3. Netsui/Shikako Three Sentence Fic<br/>4. Dropped Off Stitches (On The Loom Of Fate)<br/>5. Chances Gone By<br/>6. You and Me and Baby (Makes Fifteen)<br/>7. Winter in the Fields<br/>8. Semi-Phenomenal, Nearly Cosmic<br/>9. Reshuffle the Deck<br/>10. Primadonna Girl (Says No Thank You)<br/>11. River Running High<br/>12. Our Share of the World<br/>13. Walking Around (Like Regular People)<br/>14. Take A Step That Is New<br/>15. Baby Grows Up<br/>16. Breaking The Shackle<br/>17. Friendship Is A (Mutual) Con<br/>18. Heathens Outside And Ready<br/>19. Lies Beyond The Morning<br/>20. Fire Fallow Cultivation<br/>21. Painted Red (To Fit Right In)<br/>22. Don't Hold Back<br/>23. Hiding and Seeking<br/>24. Arm in Arm (no better team than you and me)<br/>25. Never Lookin' To Come Back<br/>26. Reasons To Keep Living<br/>27. Indelible, a Dreaming of S(oulmates) spinoff<br/>28. Changeling<br/>29. Smile At The Stars<br/>30. Foundation of Yesterday<br/>31. Ascendant</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Becoming a Legend: Or, How Fuinjutsu Helped TenTen Make Friends

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Dreaming of Sunshine](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/53648) by Silver Queen. 
  * Inspired by [View from the Clouds](https://archiveofourown.org/works/4796444) by [witchbreaker](https://archiveofourown.org/users/witchbreaker/pseuds/witchbreaker). 



When Shikako asks TenTen if she has a moment, TenTen nods and goes along. She thinks that maybe they’ll spar, but instead Shikako wanders to one of the lesser used parks and sits at a table, gesturing for TenTen to do the same.

Shikako looks at her carefully, pauses as if scanning the area, then pulls up one of her sleeves. All along her arms are seals, and TenTen knows that she put seals on herself but it’s startling to see in person just how many. From what TenTen can tell, not all of it is only resistance seals.

Shikako gestures at a small mark, maybe the size of her thumb nail, a simple yet strange symbol–an uneven triangle with extending tails on the bottom right corner.

“This is a storage seal,” Shikako says, a polite gesture from a fuinjutsu expert who can blow up people’s heads with a single touch. With a little application of chakra, a small poof of smoke reveals an odd three-pronged kunai.

Tentatively, Shikako sets it on the picnic table between them, and when TenTen looks closer she can see that there are seals on the kunai.

“This is–” she gasps out, almost slapping her hand over the blade to keep it hidden. As if someone might see them, as if Shikako’s ever advancing sensor skills wouldn’t know if someone was nearby.

“I know that the advice I gave you before pushed you to be more lethal not less, and you’re looking for another way… I think this might help you with that. And, to be honest, you might have a better time with this.”

TenTen is too amazed by the existence of the Yondaime’s Hiraishin kunai in front of her very eyes to fully grasp what Shikako says, but there’s still something bugging her… Perhaps the confusion shows on her face because Shikako just smiles and says, “You should ask Haku how he met my team.”

TenTen wrinkles her nose, the Mist ambassador?

She remembers fighting against him in the second round of the Chuunin exams. It had been frustrating to fight someone who not only had throwing accuracy almost as good as she did but with an unmatchable bloodline and near impossible speed on top of that. He had been like a combination of her and her teammates rolled into one very polite and very pretty person.

“Or you could ask Sasuke about our first C-rank mission,” Shikako says wryly, smile somehow both a little sly and apologetic, knowing TenTen’s experience with him as a temporary teammate.

Mist ambassador it is.

* * *

While TenTen appreciates Shikako’s help, she thinks that they just really don’t understand each other very much at all. It’s not a bad thing, they like each other and they are friends, but it’s as if their thought processes are completely perpendicular to one another. It shows in their sealing, too.

Shikako’s approach to fuinjutsu is, frankly, completely baffling to TenTen. There are symbols that don’t make sense, which TenTen has never seen before, and even Shikako’s attempts to explain just don’t work. Similarly, TenTen’s attempts to teach her the Infinite Pocket (as she’s taken to calling the non-collapsing storage space she developed) have failed miserably.

“I guess Hammerspace just isn’t meant for me,” Shikako shrugs, honestly not upset with being unable to use something she had helped develop, “It suits your style more, anyway. Most of the things I use I only have one of.”

And maybe that’s why it’s TenTen who is the one to reverse engineer the Hiraishin, not Shikako. Because while Shikako circumvents normal thought processes–coming up with strange ideas or having epiphanies and working towards that–TenTen is the kind of person who gets inspired by those who have come before, eagerly learning as much as she can then… tweaking things until it suits her.

* * *

Not all of TenTen’s sealing ideas come from Shikako. Ino, during one of the kunoichi meetings which still occur even if not everyone can come, is the one that remarks– “That must be tiring”– after a spar has left a majority of TenTen’s arsenal scattered around the training field.

“It’s too bad there’s no way to just… summon them back to your pocket when you’re done fighting,” Ino says, even as she helps pick them up.

“Careful,” Sakura teases–and TenTen still kind of feels ambivalent towards her because, on the one hand, she’s very nice and knowledgeable and helpful, but on the other hand she is literally living TenTen’s childhood dream of being a kunoichi just like Tsunade-sama and that stings–“You’re starting to sound like Shikamaru,” she says which makes Ino flinch exaggeratedly.

“Being on a team with him is ruining me! Next thing you know I’ll be flopped over on the ground and wasting my time cloud watching!”

And even though the topic strays, it was a pretty good idea. So TenTen dabbles–some kind of summoning seal for her weapons. Something small that could easily be engraved on, but detailed enough to be effective.

Her first attempt goes… not disastrously, since no one was injured in the process… but that’s probably due more to Neji’s quick reflexes and Kaiten than any success of her own.

She does get it eventually, and in the end her Infinite Pocket really does match it’s name.

* * *

During one of their more typical meetings, less sparring, more discussion of medical techniques, Sakura brings up the seals in some of the more advanced hospital rooms and the fuinjutsu class which is plaguing her.

“It’s not the seals that are the problem,” she moans, hands fisted in her bright pink hair, “I have those memorized, but it’s a little frustrating because everything has to be so perfectly placed and it’s not like these can be used in the field and I want to be a field medic.”

Except, TenTen thinks, why not? The seals being field usable, that is.

The project that ensues, an attempt to make a surgery room on the field is… well… it works better at finally breaking the tension between her and Sakura–and she had always thought it was a one sided-thing, before, hadn’t realized that Sakura might be jealous of her being “a real kunoichi” and not just “a civilian who knows how to use chakra”–than the actual goal, but learning about medical seals and the things which hospitals need did open up some more options for her.

Like a sanitation seal tag–a modified flashbang tag that emits ultraviolet light instead–which doesn’t exactly sound impressive, but which Sakura assures her is actually extremely amazing and would significantly improve field medicine.

Or the anesthesia seals which function similarly to knock out tags without the necessity of skin contact–sure it’s slower and it requires multiple to work–but with TenTen’s expertise being a barrage of thrown weapons that is literally not a problem for her.

The collaboration with Sakura gets her thinking about other possibilities, and looking at the other two members of the study group, TenTen realizes she still has more to learn. Though, for Hinata and Yakumo, maybe she should be the one to take initiative for this.


	2. Stories of Ancient Gods

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> [a DoSxFFVII fusion]

There is no fate.

Shikako believes this to be true–knows it is true, needs it to be true–because how could she exist, otherwise?

Because, if fate did exist, then what would that make the person who changed it? Either there is no fate, or there is and Shikako has diverted it.

No matter what the civilians think–of her and her teammates who took on bijuu and the human monsters that tried to control them–no matter the whispering she still sometimes hears when she closes her eyes and sees the ghosts of stars in her sleep, she is not a god.

She needs this to be true.

* * *

Planets change over time: continents shifting and mountains rising and oceans receding. Shikako knows that once the Land of Fire was more volcanoes than forest, Land of Wind was not always a desert, and even the continent of the Elemental Nations was not configured eons ago the way it is now.

She knows this from the past and so it is no surprise that something holds over from it. Mostly, the disbelief that humans existed before the planet had rearranged itself.

The Book of Gelel is old, the Empire of Gelel existing even before the Sage of the Six Paths which is–in the eyes of shinobi history, a very long time indeed–but the book speaks of even older civilizations who themselves revered an ancient race as gods.

Or, rather, goddess. One who saved the world from famine and war and pestilence and death.

* * *

Even if she were willing to ask the question, the only two jinchuuriki with whom she would be comfortable with asking are themselves not close enough to their bijuu to ask. Not with Shukaku gone insane in captivity and Kurama still so bitter and angry from being passed down like a family heirloom. Or a slave.

No, Shikako cannot ask Gaara or Naruto to pass on the question, and so there is no way she can get the answer.

It’s not as if she can ask Shukaku and Kurama directly.

And anyway, she doesn’t really need them to tell her about Kaguya Otsutsuki. Not when the whispers in her sleep already speak of that mistake and their redemption through Shikako.

* * *

Shikako learns how to be a sage not from the deer summons–who themselves do not have the knowledge–or from Jiraiya–who has an obligation to Naruto above anyone else–or even from the Fire Temples as suggested.

No, as with many things, Shikako learns from a book.

Well, a book and a stone.

* * *

Sometimes the whispers follow Shikako when she is awake, but only as flashes of thought. Nothing that would distract her during battle or put pressure on her already busy mind.

No, there is danger in offering too much all at once. They have learned that lesson the hard way.

But sometimes, Shikako will catch sight of her teammates, hear that flicker of thought, and wonder at the incongruity. Because no one would look at Team Seven and single out Sasuke as chaos. And only those who have not spoken to Naruto could ever consider him a weapon.

Kakashi is dangerous, yes, but never to her–and yet the whispers turn into a brief scream of fear and calamity.

It is better if she does not look.

* * *

Here is the problem with stories: they are only ever a possibility. There is no real ending in life and so stories, with such a brief glimpse into a world, cannot contain the entire truth.

Stories can be lies, and vice versa.

Stories can also be lessons.

Like an object in motion, at any given point in time, either its velocity or its position can be observed. But not both.

Shikako feels like object and observer and does not know yet what it means.


	3. [Netsui/Shikako Three Sentence Fic]

_(action/adventure)_

It should feel wrong or, at the very least, strange to fight with Shikako Nara–not against her, but together, back to back. Netsui is a proud Kumo shinobi, she should not be able to fall into a battle rhythm so easily with someone who completely embodies the Leaf.

But they have a common enemy for now, and there’s no way she’s going to embarrass herself again in front of this particular Leaf kunoichi.

* * *

_(angst)_

When news of a wedding–an actual confirmed wedding, and not just the endless rumors that plague the gossip mill–reaches Netsui she very carefully does not react.

Even if she had wanted something, she never really stood a chance. It’s better to shove those feelings beneath thoughts of honor and becoming stronger; better not to want anything at all.

* * *

_(crossover/fusion)_

There are very few Amestrian State Alchemists with Xingese heritage, and fewer still that can do both alchemy and alkahestry without any transmutation circles. In fact, there is only one.

So Netsui is confident, as she swings her sword, that she has chosen her target correctly.

* * *

_ (fluff) _

Netsui is one of the proctors for the Chuunin Exam so, given how her luck works, she shouldn’t be surprised that the Nara is here with a batch of genin brats in tow.

They’re decent, she supposes, understandable given who their jounin-sensei is, but they could be better.

Which does nothing to explain why Netsui corrects one of the brat’s grip on his sword, or the way her face flushes when the Nara smiles in thanks.

* * *

_(friendship)_

If someone had told Netsui that she’d one day be drinking buddies with Sasuke Uchiha she wouldn’t have even laughed–she probably would have stabbed the person for disparaging her character like that–as it is, they would have been right.

“And her hair is so,” Sasuke mumbles with the usual tone of drunken despair, “it’s so shiny and soft. So pretty,” he hiccups.

Netsui, comfortably drunk herself, can only nod in wishful, commiserating agreement.

* * *

_(horror)_

She doesn’t mean to stumble upon the scene, but Netsui is the only witness as Shikako Nara executes the camp’s missing prisoner.

“How is this any different from Edo Tensei?” she asks, after watching the prisoner’s corpse disappear into a shadowy maw.

The creature that wears Shikako’s face just smiles.

* * *

_(hurt/comfort)_

“This is n-not the f-first time I’ve b-been stabbed in the b-back, lit-literally even” Nara struggles to say, unsurprisingly, given the sword likely puncturing one lung.

“Shut up,” Netsui responds, but her hands are gentle as she lowers the other kunoichi down, wrapping bandages to apply pressure on the wound.

Then she draws her own sword; Netsui may not be able to fix everything, but she can at least solve one of their problems: the enemy is unarmed–literally and figuratively.

* * *

_(romance)_

There is peace between nations, and Karui is engaged to marry Akimichi, so it’s not like what Netsui is about to do is unprecedented. She’s still damn nervous, though.

“Nara,” she says, then corrects herself, “Shikako… would you like to have dinner with me tonight?”

* * *

~~ _(smut)_ ~~

~~ Dinner was a disaster. Netsui spent the entire time cringing at her own awkwardness, at the way Shikako tried to fill in the silence with strained conversation. ~~

~~ Dessert goes much better. ~~


	4. Dropped Off Stitches (On The Loom Of Fate)

The first is a daughter born to the Uchiha in a time of warring clans. She is constantly crying and inconsolable, fussy even in Izuna’s arms–though it’s almost as if she tries to be on her best behavior for him. And on her worst for her other older brother.

No matter. She is a liability–she cannot become a future bride, much less a kunoichi if she does not live beyond infancy. The Uchiha has lost children before, ones far less unruly at that.

Left behind when her clan changes camp, Uchiha Hiromi does not live to see her third birthday.

(It’s unfortunate, but not terrible. She didn’t grow too attached this new family of hers, though she’ll mourn Izuna for showing her even a shred of kindness in this snippet of a life.

She didn’t finish Shippuden, so she wouldn’t have known what to change, anyway.)

* * *

The second, ironically, is a Senju, son of Hashirama and Mito, and an embarrassment to the family. Can you imagine? A Senju-Uzumaki child who cannot use chakra, can never become a shinobi. Luckily, he is not the first son and he’s a quick learner. Perhaps he can focus on fuinjutsu instead–a respectable calling, one that only requires the amount of chakra in living creatures.

Surprisingly, Tobirama is fond of him, for all his inadequacy as a warrior, but Tobirama was always more than just a warrior, too. Lawmaker, architect, seal master, inventor–a non-chakra legacy to be passed down from uncle to nephew.

It doesn’t hurt that Wataru is as suspicious of the Uchiha as he is.

(He dies again, from an illness that would make even a shinobi stumble and he without a chakra-enhanced immune system to fight it. He doesn’t even get to see his niece be born.

Some of his seals are life-changing, but not world-changing, and so they are not enough.)

* * *

The third is conflicted, always. Dead as an adult from relatively peaceful causes, born into a world that expects her to be a child soldier and kill other child soldiers. She thinks it will be difficult until she realizes when and where she was born. Who her brother is.

Surely Danzo will not expect an attack from his sickly sister, and wouldn’t the world be better without him? The first few attempts are so lousy that he doesn’t even register them as threats, and certainly not from her.

But as she improves, so does he, and he is a parallel path that Kanetsugu can never catch up to.

(The last thing she sees is her brother’s face as he kills her, tears dripping down his young, unlined cheeks.

Her last thought is horrifying: that perhaps she was the one that turned him into that delusional sociopath.)

* * *

Babies are born and die all the time, screaming and crying constantly. Some of them may have too intelligent gleams in their eyes, but surely that’s just a trick of the light.

* * *

The fourth might not actually be the fourth, it’s not like they know each other as such yet, but she is born in Konoha and to a clan at that. Surprisingly, it’s not her condition that prevents her from becoming a shinobi but rather her clan’s sickening practice of mutilating their children and stuffing them full of creepy crawlies.

She’s being unfair, she knows. It’s a bigoted view on what is an entirely consensual and symbiotic way of life. The Aburame don’t force children into becoming hosts and, actually, it would be a neat and logical solution to her condition.

But she just can’t shake the fear and disgust; Kamakiri wants her body–however ill-suited to this world–to be only hers.

(It hurts to breathe and it hurts to move, but she will pass through this life the same way she did her last–completely and utterly herself.

She’s in a lull of the timeline, anyway, there’s nothing that needs fixing now.)

* * *

Occasionally, the condition crops up again–in clan children and civilian children, randomly with no clear connection. One enterprising medic tries to make a study of it, but it is a project swiftly abandoned in favor of more important things.

They do not become ninja, these few individuals. The pain is too great, the need too little, but they do the best they can to improve things. Helping hands and listening ears and, sometimes, warnings disguised as advice though most of the time it’s hardly ever heeded.

It would be hypocritical for Hatake Kaju to convince his brother to leave people behind. Ichiraku Emi was never sure if she should tell a young Kushina to avoid a certain blonde. Shosho was already an old man when little baby TenTen appeared in the orphanage he ran, dead before she ever got to the Academy.

They are ripples against the current, quickly overpowered by the waves. But all of them hold out hope that maybe something can change.

* * *

Kamino Hoshi is an unmarried man with no family, one functional leg, and a small shop that sells the staples of ninja hood–kunai, soldier pills, etc.– he’s the only store that will charge Naruto market price, which is better than the others’ horrible markups, but which stings terribly in his heart. He has to make a living somehow, and eventually Naruto will learn that the best weapon in his arsenal is himself.

But that is not the most important thing right now. No, it is the twelve year old girl with brown hair instead of pink, wearing green instead of red, idly browsing through his store as she waits for her genin teammate.

A girl born with chakra hypersensitivity who went on to become a shinobi despite it. A girl who, just like him, shouldn’t exist.

A girl who can change the world.


	5. Chances Gone By

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Or, Five Conversations Toki Almost Had With Shikako

She is still running on the tumultuous rush of avenging her family and revealing her secret and endangering her life and killing a man and opening her lands to his people and the chanting of her name by her own people and the sudden ticking of the watch she thought forever broken and–

Toki is grateful for Shikako, an emotional port in the storm in the shape of a girl younger than herself with eyes that can be so warm and welcoming, but just as easily turn sharp like a steel blade. Toki feels safe around Shikako, a sensation she hasn’t had for such a long time–from even before Sagi was killed–and this is something she wants to have for as long as she can. Or, at least, bottle up to save for days when she can’t.

She thinks maybe–she wants this, she can have this, she deserves this–all she has to do is ask. But she is Daimyo now, truly, not just playacting in her brother’s place; she cannot be selfish anymore.

“You won’t stay will you?” Toki asks, even though she already knows the answer. It seems as if all good things leave her at one point or another.

Shikako smiles, and even though it is a small, slanted thing, Toki wants to see more of it. “To tell you the truth, I’m not really trained for this. I’m making it up as I go along.”

And Toki laughs, the first real and honestly happy laugh she’s had since… gods, such a long time. Toki wants to return the favor, “The secret is… so am I.”

It’s successful, to some extent: Shikako’s smile blooms full and bright, and though she doesn’t laugh, Toki feels the warm flush of victory.

After a comfortable silence, Toki picks up the thread of conversation again. “What kind of training would you need? To be qualified for this, that is,” she asks, and hopes the question sounds interested without being desperate.

Shikako doesn’t seem to suspect anything, pondering the question seriously, “Well to begin with, for a body guarding mission in general, I’d need to be at least a chuunin. Our original mission was to help Chishima-san investigate the ghost sightings, but our missions tend to go in unexpected directions,” she flashes another smile alongside the understatement.

“But a mission of this caliber? With your status and not to mention the matter of the Watari clan…”

Toki was hoping to put off thinking about that particular spontaneous decision until tomorrow at least.

“… Well, they’ll probably have at least a special jounin on the replacement team, if not higher.” Shikako shrugs, as if to say the matter is out of her hands. They settle back into a comfortable silence, and Toki finds herself drifting, soothed by the rhythm of Shikako’s breathing.

Toki understands, life doesn’t always work out so neatly or as immediately as hoped, but she can be patient. She can wait for Shikako to rise in rank.

* * *

On the day of Toki’s coronation, there are so many people fussing over her–her clothes, her hair, what she’ll say, where she’ll stand–that she finds she hardly has to worry about herself. Instead, she lets her eyes and thoughts rest on Shikako. She notices the way the younger girl, so confident against danger and battle, fidgets; fingers twisting with the end of her braid, hands alternately tugging and smoothing her clothes, eyes glancing over at her ruined sandals by the door.

“I have a kimono in your size, if you would like,” Toki offers. So many people fussing over Toki, Shikako deserves at least one person fussing over her.

The other girl looks up, a spill of pink spreading across her cheeks. Oh no, Toki didn’t intend to make her feel embarrassed.

“Come with me,” she says, and reaches out to hold one jittery hand in her own, “The palace has a bathhouse, and we both deserve more than just a quick wash after the days we’ve been through.”

Shikako laughs, a bright, brief giggle, before nodding, “That does sound amazing.”

Toki waves away the servants, and they obey, albeit anxiously. The two of them enjoy their baths, though they can’t linger for long: she does have a coronation to attend, after all. But it’s enough that Shikako relaxes, accepting the kimono without any protest and the aid of a servant to put it on. Toki’s own finery requires a team, but that is expected.

“Are you nervous?” Shikako asks, and while the servants working on Toki’s hair look at her with scandalized expressions, Toki herself is not offended. They have revealed greater truths to one another already.

“A little,” she admits, “but not as much as I thought I would be.”

When Toki is crowned daimyo of the Land of Birds–officially and as her true self–Shikako is standing, proud and protective, only a few steps away.

* * *

A few days later, more ninja from Konoha come, and Toki knows that means her ninja have to leave.

“This is Raido Namiashi,” Shikako introduces, “special jounin of Konoha.” Just like she predicted.

Toki is polite–she is the embodiment of her country now, she cannot be anything less–but she doesn’t want her last words in who knows how long to Shikako to be empty small talk. Shikako and her team are prepared to leave, but Toki calls out before they depart.

“Special jounin, right?”

The boys and Toki’s new bodyguard probably think she’s asking for confirmation of his rank, but Shikako nods answering a question that Toki hasn’t had the courage to ask out loud.

Shikako will be back one day, Toki knows, she just has to be patient.

* * *

Their reunion is actually far sooner than Toki expects, and all the more awkward for it. Standing between Raido and Hokuto at the Grass Chuunin Exams, she feels all too keenly the weight of her title, the distance between them.

Shikako, too, is with others. Her team–at least for the purposes of this exam–and another stand behind her, listening. They cannot be as intimate as they were before, but that does not mean Toki cannot be honest.

“You were a great help to me,” she says quietly, “So I’m glad that I can help you in turn, even with a small thing.” Toki draws the silver token given to her earlier from her sleeves, and holds it out to Shikako. “Good luck with your tests!”

The participants bow, Shikako included, and Toki wants so much to reach out, but she resists. They turn to leave, Toki lets them go.

“Toki,” Shikako calls back, “Chuunin first, then special jounin. You’ll see,” she smiles, and Toki would be lying if she said it hadn’t taken her breath away.

As daimyo, she is afforded an excellent seat during the tournament, even if her country is small. She watches, eagerly, and does not even pretend to be unbiased. But for all that she knows Shikako is a strong ninja, Toki only knows of her battle against other ninja second-hand–through Shikako and, later, Hokuto.

She knows Shikako is strong, doesn’t hold the first two fights against her even as the other audience members chatter in boredom. Her current bodyguards seem impressed, which means there is something about the fights that non-ninja cannot understand.

But everyone is blown away by her third fight.

“Chuunin, then special jounin,” Toki repeats to herself; maybe she won’t have to be so patient.

* * *

She has grown fond of Raido during his time as her bodyguard, he is a good shinobi and, more than that, a good man. Even his arguments with Hokuto, heated as they may be, are no longer as barbed as they were in the beginning. Konoha has sent her not only a bodyguard, but a skilled diplomat.

Regardless, he is not who Toki wants beside her. And Raido knows it.

Which is why, when Shikako is promoted to special jounin–not even a week after the Chuunin Exams–Raido is the one to bring the good news to Toki with an amused smile. But he also explains why Shikako cannot immediately return to Land of Birds–about special training and rotations in the Intelligence Division and, quietly, of preventing burn out.

Toki listens, understands. She was prepared to wait longer, before. She is only a little bit disappointed.

She is patient.

And it’s not as if she is just idly waiting: She has an entire country to run, a hidden village to build from the ground up alongside the Watari clan whose trust she is steadily gaining and vice versa. She is a daimyo going against tradition and the carefully crafted balance of the Elemental Nations. She is a busy woman, not just a girl waiting for a hero.

But she is still excited, a few months later, when Raido comes to her again, same amused smile, bringing news from Konoha.

Two days. It only takes two days for a ninja to travel from Konoha to the palace of Land of Birds.

When Shikako arrives, Toki is holding audiences with the public–a new monthly practice she’s implemented to better connect with her people. Like the others before her in line, Shikako goes to her knees and bows. When she rises, Toki can hear the murmurs–Shikako’s battle against the Kazekage during the Chuunin Exams put her on the map and, more specifically, she was an integral part of the Toki’s own rise to power. And the Watari clan’s settlement.

She is not an unfamiliar face, even before she introduces herself:

“Shikako Nara,” she says with a smile, “Special jounin of Konoha.”

* * *

**_(And One She Really Wanted To)_ **

At night in Toki’s room, just the two of them, it feels like when they first met. It hasn’t even been a full year, and yet it might as well have been a different life. Toki, reeling from loss and anger, pretending to be someone else. Shikako, drifting and uncertain, injuring herself to survive enemies stronger than herself.

They are stronger and wiser and yet, in the darkness and silence, the same.

“I’m glad you’re here,” Toki says, low and soft.

In the moonlight, Shikako’s smile gleams. “So am I.”


	6. You and Me and Baby (Makes Fifteen)

It happens when Shikako is exploring the ruins of Uzushiogakure. According to the paperwork she had to file for her self-assigned mission–which is something she can do because she’s teammates with both of the ninja messiahs and also the Hokage was her sensei–this is a research trip to see if any knowledge of the Uzushio style of sealing can be salvaged. Mostly, though, it’s her way of indulging that part of her that always wanted to be Indiana Jones.

The Land of Whirlpools, the minuscule series of islands far off the southern coast of the Land of Fire, is beautiful. Tropical without being muggy, everything in bright colors–the water, the sunset, the fauna–teeming with life. Just not of the human variety.

The broken chunks of what used to be buildings have grown over with shoots of green. Only by physically brushing some moss away does she see carvings of what must have been seals–inert without chakra and without the complete structure. It’s disconcerting, to say the least, and frustrating: as if seeing the ashes of the Library of Alexandria, all the wisdom and potential lost because of jealousy and greed and short-sighted pride.

There’s a fine line between excavating and looting, of which she takes care to remain on the respectful side. Places that look like they might have been private homes–even if they are better preserved–she only peers into curiously; the half-collapsed shells of public buildings are what she’s seeking. For now.

A hospital is easy enough to recognize, and something like a library, though most of the books have gone moldy with exposure and anyway, this seems to be one of the lower level libraries. Which makes sense, the shape of a school is its neighbor.

She tries not to scream when she recognizes a playground.

She shuts her eyes, overcome, and lets her hearing and chakra sense take over for sight. The susurration of waves and the call of some bird of paradise, the chakra of plants and insects buzzing at her senses and…

–what, how–

… the steady pulsing of human chakra not her own.

Shikako follows it, the rhythm constant like a heartbeat, away from the center of the village and towards the outskirts. She’d say they were training grounds, except for how there is a small one room building in the center, surprisingly well-preserved–though perhaps this is just what Uzushio training grounds look like.

The door has rotted shut, but so have the security seals, so all it needs is a shove. Inside looks like an office, or a lab, like the many set aside for members of Konoha’s R&D.

On the desk is a dusty and disorganized pile of papers–research notes, she’d recognize that anywhere–and a scroll of pulsing chakra.

* * *

Of course she touches it: once a Lucky Seven always a Lucky Seven.

But at least she tries to read the papers first, trying to figure out what it may be. So still reckless, but at least it’s not a blind recklessness.

Given that the notes referenced stasis seals and summoning seals and storage seal, she’s not sure what she was expecting.

She definitely wasn’t expecting a baby.

* * *

The problem with being away from home for months at a time is that when one finally returns with a surprise baby in tow, people tend to make a certain assumption. She wasn’t even gone that long!

Sakura, because only she’s foolishly sentimental enough to willingly be Shikako’s primary medic, looks between her and the red-haired baby and makes an additional assumption by asking, “Is that the Kazekage’s kid?”

Shikako hopes her expression is enough of an answer.

“Well, you can’t blame me!” Sakura says, as she finishes up the diagnostic jutsu and writes an all clear on Shikako’s records. “Do you want me to check up on it, too?” She gestures, because she’s done rotations in maternity ward before and there’s no need to bring some other medic in.

“Him,” Shikako corrects, and carefully holds the baby up so Sakura can reach him. He makes small baby sounds, perhaps at the movement or maybe at the diagnostic jutsu, but he settles soon enough. “I found him in Uzushio.”

“Alone?” Sakura prompts, going through a manual check up as per procedure with infants, instead of a deeper more invasive diagnostic jutsu.

Shikako tells her the whole story, though there isn’t much to it beyond: yes, I found a baby in a scroll in the ruins of a fallen village.

“I think the seal was meant to transport injured patients more easily–combine storage and stasis, get the best of both and neither of the flaws. And I guess when Uzushio was attacked, whoever was working on the scroll thought his best bet for survival was to just…”

“Seal him away and leave him in a locked lab for decades?” Sakura says, tone harsh and biting, but hands so gentle on the baby. “Who does that?”

“They probably meant to come back for him. Or they thought someone else would be able to sense the chakra pulse,” Shikako demurs, and once Sakura is done, pulls the baby back to her body.

To wake up in a world so unlike your own, with all your loved ones dead and gone. It’s not the same, he won’t even remember it, but still. He was found, eventually; he’s alive.

* * *

“What’s his name?” Sakura asks, as she fills out the forms necessary to start a new medical record.

Shikako looks up from her haphazard attempt at a clapping game with the baby. “I couldn’t find anything in the lab,” she says with a shrug. And she had looked, thoroughly.

“Then what do you want to name him?” Sakura says, practical as ever.

“Me?” Shikako asks, bewildered.

“You did find him,” she points out, which, true, “Which means you’re his guardian now,” which, okay makes sense, but–

“He’s probably an Uzumaki,” Shikako says because a red head in Uzushio couldn’t be anything else.

Sakura stares at her, almost disbelieving, “Shikako. His next of kin is Naruto,” she says slowly. Because, yes, Naruto is the ninja messiah but that doesn’t mean anyone should trust him with a baby.

“I’ll… think of something…” Shikako hedges, instead of answering.

Even if she’d be better than Naruto with a baby, that doesn’t make her a good choice. Just not as terrible.

* * *

Her first instinct, after leaving the hospital, is to bring the baby home immediately and hope her mom takes one look at his, admittedly, adorable face and decides that Shikako cannot be in charge of this small human.

Unfortunately, she is spotted en route.

“Shikako!” Naruto calls out from across behind her, and she can feel the shining presence of his chakra making a beeline for her, the warm embers of Sasuke’s following after.

Naruto talks to her, even as he approaches, loud enough to be heard over the decreasing distance, “One of the gate guards told me you were back, but when I told Sasuke he didn’t believe me, which means he owes me so much ramen and–” he stops, stunned, mouth flapping silently when he sees what’s in her arms.

“Is that a baby?” Sasuke says suspiciously, as if, perhaps, it weren’t a baby at all but a bomb.

“Wow, Sasuke,” Shikako says dryly, “the Sharingan really works wonders for your observational skills.”

He glares, but it’s half-hearted at best.

“You have a baby?” Naruto asks, finally, “Is it your baby? Is it Gaara’s baby?”

“Why do people keep asking me that?” she complains.

Sasuke takes his chance, “Maybe you need a Sharingan yourself.”

She should have expected that, she practically gift-wrapped it for him.

She answers Naruto’s questions: “Yes, this is a baby. Yes, it’s sort of my baby. No, it’s not Gaara’s.” She sighs and turns the baby around in her arms, so that he can face her teammates.

“Naruto, meet your cousin. Kareru Uzumaki.”

* * *

It’s not exactly a problem, but considering the make up of Team Seven–the fact that she’s the only non-orphan and the only one with siblings who didn’t leave the village after slaughtering their entire clan–she probably could have handled the matter of introductions better.

Shikako’s teammates take the sudden appearance of a baby as well as she expected. Meaning, not with any measure of grace or dignity whatsoever.

“What do we do with it?” Naruto asks, his hands fluttering around Kareru without actually touching. In contrast, Sasuke’s stare has only become more suspicious, arms folded across his chest.

“He’s a baby,” she answers, exasperated, “not a kunai. We don’t do anything with him except, probably, raise him into a decent human being.”

“We?” Sasuke prompts.

“Oh, well, no,” Shikako says, amending her statement, “Not ‘we’ as in us, but 'we’ as in people in general. I was hoping someone else would be willing to raise him. And I could just let them take over. It’s not as if we can, there’s other more qualified people.” Although, said out loud, it does sound an awful lot like she’s shirking responsibilities.

“Why not?” Naruto says, absolutely entranced by what might be his only living blood relative trying to eat his own foot. Shikako shifts her hold on Kareru so his infantile acrobatics won’t lead to him plummeting to the ground.

“Why not what?” she asks.

“Why not us?” Naruto clarifies, “Why can’t we raise him?” he asks, finally looking up, blue eyes full of conviction. “We can do this.”

Shikako and Sasuke glance at each other, expressions far less skeptical than the other would expect–neither of them have ever been all that successful at denying Naruto when it really matters.

And, yes, she may have been doubtful of Naruto’s ability to take care of a baby earlier–long ago D-rank babysitting missions flashing through her minds–but he’s not asking to take care of Kareru by himself. He’s asking if they can do it, together. And, well, together they’ve done some pretty amazing things.

She bites her lip, though, still unsure. This isn’t just some one-off mission that they can complete and walk away from. This is a baby, an actual whole other person who will be their responsibility for years. For the rest of their lives.

But it’s Sasuke who makes the decision, carefully extending a single finger in the baby’s direction. Fascinated, Kareru grabs it, a pleased squeal erupting from his mouth.

Naruto’s grin is wide and bright, “We can do this!” he repeats.

Shikako nods, an answering smile of her own spreading across her face. “But,” she adds, ever the pragmatist, “Probably not by ourselves.”

* * *

It wouldn’t make sense for the Hokage to be informed of every new citizen of Konoha–frankly, it’s an inefficient use of the village leader’s time and with this particular Hokage, time is something that his horde of administrative shinobi have to schedule with frenzied exactness–but when it comes to this particular citizen, exceptions can be made.

Or, well, Team Seven will make the exception for him. After all, it’s not everyday a jounin-sensei becomes a pseudo-grandpa via his students collectively adopting a baby found in the ruins of a fallen village.

… Well, it’s not as if the paperwork ninja didn’t already hate them.

“Maa, not the mask, Kareru-kun,” Kakashi says fondly to the baby currently seated on his desk and trying to unmask him. Except for gently pulling the tiny hands away from his face, Kakashi lets Kareru do whatever he wants, crawling across the desk and drooling on no doubt very important files.

“That’s all you have to say about this?” Naruto asks, impatient, the first one to crack.

“Hm,” Kakashi responds, stretching the noise out until Sasuke begins to scowl, “He’s a little young to learn the chidori,” he admonishes, just to see the team twitch in annoyed unison.

“Sensei!”

“I have a lot of free time,” Kakashi lies, blatantly, “I guess I could watch Kareru-kun occasionally,” he says, so nonchalant that it’s obvious he cares.

Not that Shikako was really expecting anything else, her sensei awkward but affectionate in his own way–but it’s nice to be proven right about things.

* * *

Team Ten, thankfully, is far less uncomfortable about sudden teenaged parenthood–skipping over origins and uncertainty of what constitutes family, going straight into how to raise Kareru. Which, isn’t really a surprise considering their clans are known for strong family ties.

“I always thought I’d end up with a kid first,” Shikamaru says, one eyebrow raised. But there’s a smile on the edge of his mouth, his shoulder brushing against his sister’s. It’s nice to know he’ll support her even in this somewhat spontaneous decision.

Chouji, in far fewer words, also expresses his approval by reaching out for the baby. His bulky arms a gentle cradle for Kareru to observe the world.

“Can you say Ino-neechan?” Ino coos to Kareru, who babbles happily in response.

“Neechan?” Naruto asks, as tactful as ever, “Wouldn’t you be Ino-bachan?”

“Excuse you,” Ino says, “If you want to be called uncle, then that’s fine. But I’m going to be Kareru’s fabulous older sister.”

“He’s not even old enough to talk yet,” Sasuke says, though he stands on the opposite side of Chouji from her. Strategically.

“I’m training him early,” Ino says with a shrug, before turning her attention back to the baby, “You can pull off purple, right Kareru-chan?”

Which starts Naruto in on the sanctity of Uzumaki wearing orange and somehow devolves into an argument about who will be Kareru’s favorite.

Well, at least he won’t be lacking for attention.

* * *

It doesn’t take long for Kiba to find them–hand on the pulse of Konoha’s rumor mill and having almost as good a sense for inane competition as he does smells–the rest of Team Eight follow after.

Preemptively, Shikako says, “No, this isn’t mine and Gaara’s kid,” which sends Kiba into a fit of raucous laughter.

Thankfully, it’s Shino who responds. “I did not think so. Why? First, because you have only been gone for a few months–not long enough for the human gestation period, or for the additional months this child has of age. Second, you were nowhere near Land of Wind, and it is well-known that the Kazekage does not often leave Sunagakure. Third, while it is true that the child and the Kazekage both have red hair, it is obvious, even within such a short period of time, that the child has more in common with Naruto in appearance than the Kazekage.”

There’s a beat of silence as everyone processes Shino’s statement.

“Thanks for the support?” Shikako says, more question than not, but Shino nods and she supposes it’s close enough.

“I-if I can help in any way, I’d like to,” Hinata offers, once the story has been repeated for Team Eight’s benefit. Shino nods again, in agreement, while Kiba is more vocal with his.

“And anyway, babies love dogs! Me and Akamaru will definitely end up this kid’s favorite.”

Which restarts the argument all over again: this time, with animal summons for added silliness.

* * *

It’s not as if Shikako ever planned for this–her entire life has basically been rolling with the punches–so it’s not like she’s actively recruiting people into helping out with Kareru.

Try convincing Lee that, though.

“I will run around Konoha one hundred times on my hands!” he declares, eyes bright and filled with determination. “I, too, will prove myself a worthy caregiver for young Kareru! Superior, even, to my rival, Neji!” He points, at said rival who, despite the look of deep disgruntlement, has not pulled away from Kareru’s curious hair tugging.

Instead, to rile up his teammate, Neji says only one word: “Byakugan,” which… is a fairly strong point. The Hyuuga bloodline would make literally watching a baby almost ludicrously easy.

TenTen huffs an exasperated laugh, “Of course they’d find a way to argue over a baby.”

“They might as well join the fight already in progress,” Shikako says, gesturing to where some of their friends have set up an impromptu sparring tournament to somehow prove which of them will end up as Kareru’s favorite. As if they were waiting for permission, Lee and Neji–untangling himself from tiny baby fingers–go and do just that.

“Mostly, I just wanted to see how your mission to Uzushio went,” TenTen admits, “I figured you’d bring back some seal samples, though, I didn’t think you’d return with a baby.”

Well, technically, she came back with both…

“My missions always end up really weird,” Shikako muses, before glancing over at the baby, still comfortably perched in Chouji’s arms. Kareru’s eyes meet hers and he smiles, a wide, toothless, drooling thing.

She can’t say it doesn’t tug at her heartstrings.

* * *

Within the hour, Sakura finds them–not that they were hiding–and she comes armed with paperwork and an unimpressed expression.

“I take it you’ve figured out what to name him, then,” she says, channeling as much of her shishou as Shikako tries to channel of her sensei. Given how infrequently Kakashi ever pulled one over on Tsunade, that was probably a poor decision.

“Aah, Sakura, I was just about to… you see, I was on my way home when–”

“Save it,” she interrupts, thankfully, because Shikako’s Kakashi impression isn’t all that good to begin with, “What’s his name and who should I put for his official guardians?”

With all of her friends around her, knowing that she’s far from alone in this, it’s less daunting to say:

“This is Kareru Uzumaki. And I’ll be his guardian.”


	7. Winter in the Fields

Over time, the story will change.

It will grow and shrink in turn--certain parts exaggerated, others removed completely. Some events, entirely unrelated, will somehow end up integral to the story.

That is the nature of rumors turning into legends. History turning into myth. Politics misconstrued as romance, an alliance interpreted as marriage. Mercenaries turned into heroes, and heroes turned into gods.

But at the heart of every story is a truth, and in this case the truth is this:

The Corpse Princess was kidnapped by the King of Flowers, and she escapes because of a fruit.

* * *

Shikako wakes up.

Which, shouldn't be all that surprising. But given the last thing she remembers is being kidnapped with chloroform and trying to escape it by using a Touch Blast? Well.

There are many ways that could have ended. Or, rather, one other way in particular.

Take, for example, the Touch Blast eating up the very last bit of her chakra. Ending in her death.

Or, even if she still had enough chakra after that, she just planted a bomb next to her face. Ending in her death.

And kidnapping doesn't exclude murder--the former is known to lead to the latter. Ending in her death.

So, yes, when Shikako wakes up, it would be accurate to say that no one is more surprised than her.

* * *

Here is the thing about the Kusagakure: they do not have any S-rank shinobi.

This is partially out of nature--smaller villages don't often produce S-rank shinobi, due to a lack of resources, mostly, but also lack of need--and partially by design.

Because those with potential to become S-rank shinobi are sacrificed to the Box of Ultimate Bliss.

* * *

The Elemental Nations are in a constant state of war--whether cold war or actual--that is simply how this world works.

It's something Shikako has become accustomed to, over the years. More than, actually, given who her father is and who her brother will be. Who her teammates might have been and might very well still become.

She does not have the luxury of ignoring potential acts of war.

She just never thought that she'd be one of them.

* * *

"Once you tell me how you defeated it, you can go home," says the man known to Shikako only as King of Flowers. He is the only one that speaks to her, the guards that bring her meals as lifeless as shades.

It would be smart of him, to keep such a secret technique to himself, since it would undermine his power if there actually was a technique to keep secret. As it is...

"I didn't," Shikako says, for what must be the hundredth time, tired and always so hungry. She doesn't have access to a window--no, it'd be far too easy to escape if she did--and so she doesn't know how many days have passed.

She is underground--no sunlight, no chakra, no hope.

The King of Flowers leaves her, and with him goes her only source of conversation.

Just as well, his small talk sucks.

* * *

In one timeline, Muku of the Kantokusha Clan was one such youth with great potential sacrificed to the Box of Ultimate Bliss.

(Of course, that is not how any parent would phrase it--for, indeed, he was meant to open the box not be consumed by it--but that is what would have happened all the same.)

Instead, his father hesitated. Just enough to think things through. Oh, he still believed his son would be the one to open the Box of Ultimate Bliss--would return Kusagakure to its former glory--but not yet. For if a child could be worthy, then wouldn't a teenager be more so?

No, Mui would wait until his son was older to open the box.

Too bad Muku had other plans.

* * *

"Perhaps I could try, Father," Muku says, as deferential as possible.

Maybe it is because his father has been so frustrated at his own lack of progress in interrogating the Nara girl. So annoyed at having to answer to the other members of the Grass Flowers faction.

So afraid of the growing tensions amongst the big five villages.

Foisting blame onto Cloud may have postponed Leaf's well-deserved fury, but the ruse would only last for so long and Land of Grass is still a small buffer country. Even if Leaf continues to think their missing genin lost because of Cloud, there may be war soon, and Kusagakure will suffer when Rock comes to their allies' aid.

His father's decision to maintain their clan's supremacy may very well plunge the entire Elemental Nations into war.

It is not a light burden to carry, and he is distracted.

"Yes, my son," his father agrees, eyes tired and unheeding, "You are the only one I can trust with this."

* * *

The factions of Kusagakure have detailed histories and many, varied motives. That would be another tale in and of itself, but for the sake of this story the difference is this:

Grass Flower wanted to open the Box of Ultimate Bliss.

Grass Fruit did not.

So one could see how, as the boy supposedly slated to open the box, Muku of the Kantokusha clan would be assumed to be part of Grass Flower.

* * *

The Nara girl looks sick when Muku sees her. Also, quietly pissed off, but that one's understandable.

Outside her cell, Muku stands and waits in silence--he has a lot of experience with that, especially recently.

"The king couldn't get the answer he wanted, so he sends the Prince of Flowers instead?" the girl asks, voice barely louder than a whisper, but audible enough.

Muku knows from the guards that the Nara girl calls his father King of Flowers--which isn't too far off, given his influence within the faction. He also knows that she hasn't been eating much: worried about drugs in the food, no doubt. And rightly so.

He shrugs, in response "I send myself. And I know you have been telling the truth. I was there, I know you didn't escape my jutsu. You fought without chakra, and won without chakra."

She laughs, a meager exhalation of air that could just easily be a scoff.

Through the small grate allotted for food trays, he rolls her an apple--harder to tamper with in secret. Hopefully she'll eat it. More importantly, maybe she'll understand what it means.

"Gather your strength, Shikabane-hime," he says, a pointed reference to her own royal moniker, "You may very well have to escape without chakra, too."

* * *

It's not too long after, that events start to get a little mixed up.

Konoha's Team Seven, heedless of the Hokage's half-hearted protests, blazes into Land of Grass to rescue their own. Lightning crackles ominously, fire spreads across the fields, the wind claws great gouges into the earth, and trees sprout angrily where none have been before--sky and land, nature itself balking at the Corpse Princess' kidnapping and imprisonment.

The Grass Fruit faction, growing braver as their their fear of another world war comes closer to reality, decide to raid the Blood Prison--though no such siege has ever been successful before--in an attempt to end Grass Flower's dominance.

Within the walls of the prison, a riot breaks out: prisoners steadily adapting to their lack of chakra, yet retaining their deadly educations. And grudges.

All guards and Grass Flower shinobi available are called to handle the escalating situations.

They will never have a better chance than this.

* * *

Muku remembers how fragile the Nara girl's bones had been. How easily he snapped her arm, how gentle he had to be for the rest of the fight.

He had not wanted her dead then, even as she strangled him with her hair, and he does not want her dead now.

He protects her as they escape. Stealth is their best tool in this--he knows the walls well and can avoid the majority of the rioting. The few enemies they encounter are easily taken care of, for it seems Shikabane-hime remains singular in her ability to defeat shinobi even without chakra.

He is not expecting a wall to explode.

* * *

For a brief moment, Shikako loses consciousness. Her ears ring from the blast as well as her head bouncing against the ground.

The Prince of Flowers meant well in throwing himself on top of her, but he is still heavier than she can handle right now.

There is dust in the air and luminescent spots in her eyes, but she can still sense well enough.

"Sensei," she calls out weakly, so relieved.

But then Muku's body is pulled off hers roughly, killing intent spilling into the air, the crackling of a familiar jutsu across her senses.

"Sensei!" she calls out again, this time panicked, "Wait, don't!" Except for Naruto, the chidori cannot be undone. "He helped me!" She says, half stumbling half crawling to where Kakashi's chakra stands.

Two pairs of hands--both so familiar--help support her when she tries to rise. Team Seven reunited.

"He helped me escape," she gasps, when her eyes finally take in the scene, Kakashi holding Muku up by his shirt, the lightning crackling in his hand barely constrained. "Killing him won't help me," she says.

Later, she won't be able to remember if she had meant to be so pointed. Bitter from imprisonment, exhausted and dazed.

"Who, then?" Kakashi asks, a barely leashed attack dog just needing a target.

"Mui of the Kantokusha clan..."

An alternative provided, Kakashi drops Muku, who collapses awkwardly to the ground, before continuing, "... my father," he chokes out, preemptive grief and shortness of breath, both.

Sharingan no Kakashi goes to dispense his wrath, leaving his students to watch Muku mourn his father's death.

* * *

History will say that it was premeditated: Muku having his father killed by foreign ninja in order to become head of the Kantokusha clan and switch its allegiance to Grass Fruit.

Legend will say that he betrayed his father after falling in love with the Corpse Princess, turning to his family's enemies for aid; the two lovers eloping in a land far away.

Occasionally, Muku will even be written out completely--father and son conflated into one person; the King of Flowers so enchanted by the girl that he kidnaps her for himself.

Sometimes, the Box of Ultimate Bliss will receive a much larger role in the tale than it deserves. And often, Team Seven's temporary fourth member, known only as Tenzo, will be interpreted as a woman.

That is the nature of stories, changing over time. But it is not so far from truth:

A lightning wielding father avenging his daughter. Her brothers of wind and fire scorching the lands that imprison her.

The Corpse Princess escaping from the King of Flowers because of a Fruit.


	8. Semi-Phenomenal, Nearly Cosmic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Or, Three Times Tobirama Accidentally Summoned Shikako

He is ten and just beginning to experiment with fuinjutsu--far too young, some would say, but if he's old enough to fight and die for his clan then surely he's old enough to risk dying for knowledge.

And, perhaps, in one universe that is what happens.

Of course, in another universe the seal succeeds without any issue and this day passes without anything memorable happening.

This is yet another universe, though. One where it doesn't fail fatally, but it also doesn't quite succeed either.

Instead of yes or no, this universe answers with a question of its own.

Tobirama tries to create a teleporting seal, and ends up summoning a person instead.

He's not surprised, necessarily. That was the basis of this experiment, after all, trying to reverse engineer the normal animal summoning seals into something that can transport a human.

He was just expecting that person to be himself. Not some random stranger.

Thankfully, she's a Nara--the clan's symbol clearly embroidered on her clothes, though her armor is unlike any he's seen before--and the Senju's treaty with the Akimichi-Nara-Yamanaka alliance is one of the most reliable.

Yes, he could have done much worse and ended up with a hostile Uchiha on his hands--but still. It's a stranger summoned where he expected none. It's more than a bit alarming.

The girl is maybe only a few years older than him, but the scars and seals decorating her skin makes her seem older. As does the sharp look she sends his way, distracting him from the snaking shadow along the ground that freezes him in place.

"Who are you?" she asks, pulling out a pair of kunai from a pouch on her hip. Tobirama, in casual clothes, mimics her movements and only gets empty air in his hands.

A strong Nara, then. Only the strong ones can make the jutsu control their targets instead of just paralyze.

"I should be asking you that," Tobirama says, because he is the Senju chief's second son and it doesn't matter if he's making a poor showing of his clan at this moment, he is still representative of it, "This is Senju clan territory."

"Senju clan--" she repeats, before biting off her words, brow furrowing, eyes darting around the small patch of forest Tobirama uses as his personal training grounds. She spots the wide scroll beneath her feet, covered in his fuinjutsu prototypes.

"Hiraishin," she murmurs.

Tobirama very carefully doesn't flinch. That's what he was going to name his teleportation jutsu. He hasn't told anyone.

"You're... Tobirama Senju?" she asks, and this time he does flinch. Because though he may be the Senju chief's second son, he is still only ten. No one should be able to recognize him on sight or know his name--not even their allies.

"How do you know--" he begins, only to be cut off.

"Tobirama!" he hears his brother cry out, voice wending its way through the trees. The Nara girl steps back and away--off the Hiraishin seal--and promptly disappears.

Tobirama hastily rolls up the scroll and vows to make adjustments so this doesn't happen again.

In a week's time, he tries out the Hiraishin again, and isn't at all disappointed when it succeeds as planned.

* * *

He is fifteen and his brother has died, the Senju chief's four sons whittled down to two.

He didn't cry at Kawarama's death and he's not going to at Itama's, but it still hurts. He's sick of mourning for brothers lost. He doesn't want to do it again.

Hashirama rambles on about peace, about a world where all clans work together instead of tearing each other apart, but Tobirama has always been a realist.

Dreams mean nothing without the sacrifice to make them reality. Words are empty puffs of air until chakra turns them into jutsu.

Tobirama throws himself into research and surfaces five weeks later with another prototype.

And mad, somewhat twisted hope.

What if he didn't have to mourn dead brothers? What if he could bring them back?

A stray thought captured with seals. Spirituality wrangled into science.

Edo Tensei.

Hashirama wants peace to prevent more of his loved ones from dying.

Tobirama believes in efficiency.

It probably says something about him that he thinks death is less insurmountable than peace. Or maybe it's just the world he lives in.

When he goes to his patch of forest--more and more his as the years go by, lined with traps that only he knows how to bypass--he prepares the Edo Tensei. He's not so far gone that he'll kill someone just to experiment with a seal, but he thinks a fallen deer will be suitable enough. Its about the same mass as a human, and if it fails then he can always bring home the meat for venison.

In another universe, this would do nothing--deer and humans being incomparable when it comes to souls--and he would shelve the Edo Tensei for another time.

But this is the universe that likes to play tricks, and so something strange occurs once more.

Tobirama would be lying if he said he never thought about that first attempt at the Hiraishin. But it's true that he never really thought about it frequently--his clan is at war and he is one of the Senju's strongest fighters, he has enough on his plate.

So when that same strange Nara girl appears, somehow the same age as before, he is both bewildered and unsurprised.

"Oh," she says, as if this also bewildering yet unsurprising to her.

"Hello again," Tobirama says, because to be honest, he thinks he would rather deal with an unknown Nara than actually have succeeded at reviving one of his brothers with a deer, even if that was what this whole seal was for. "I never got your name," he adds, because that has been bugging him for the past five years in a small, niggling sort of way.

"Nara," she replies unhelpfully. Before looking straight down at the scroll beneath her feet. "This isn't the Hiraishin," she remarks, head tilting this way and that to read the inked characters.

"No, it isn't," he says, equally unhelpful, because two can play at that game.

She sighs, getting the point, "Shikako Nara," she amends.

"That's the Nara clan head's naming scheme, isn't it?" he asks, though he already knows the answer.

"My father is clan head, and my brother will be after him," she answers.

The current clan head is a woman.

Tobirama says as much.

Shikako taps her foot.

He rolls his eyes, "Edo Tensei."

"Ah," she says, pursing her lips for a long moment as if contemplating a difficult decision, before she continues, "You're missing something. As it is right now, you'll never be able to summon a specific person; you need to have their DNA or modify each seal per person. Otherwise you'll end up pulling random souls from out of nowhere."

"What would you know about it?" he asks, near to bristling as this stranger talks about his original technique as if she's an expert.

"Haven't you figured it out yet?" she deflects, which works, annoyingly enough. "My father is the sixteenth clan head. My brother will be the seventeenth."

The Nara clan isn't that old.

Yet.

In order for teleportation to work, seals must subvert space and time. Death is beyond both.

She smiles. "It's called Konohagakure," she says, shifting her arms to show off the metal plate sewn onto her sleeve, a leaf engraved in its center.

His brother's dream comes true.

"You always were my favorite Hokage," she adds, dropping that conversational bomb and--by stepping backwards--disappearing immediately.

Apparently, Tobirama has work to do.

* * *

They meet again. Several times, actually, though usually on purpose. Shikako never seems to mind--then again, that may be because she doesn't appear to age each time he summons her. For all he knows, each meeting occurs consecutively for her, while for him they are months and years apart.

She drops hints about the future, but only ever when she wants to--never when he tries to trick it out of her. He stops trying after the third time and just asks her directly. If she says no, then that's fine, she usually gives him some other tidbit of info in exchange.

Getting to see a finished Sword of the Thunder God was worth the tight-lipped refusal on the fate of the Uchiha clan.

Or so he thought at the time.

But Madara has defected, baying for blood, and the Kyuubi is running rampant. Tobirama knows his brother is strong and that Mito is powerful in her own right, but Madara has always been his brother's weakness and how can one human compare to a bijuu?

They are forces of nature given will, gods compared to mere mortals...

... mortals compared to gods?

It is a stray thought, but Tobirama feels almost guided in this direction. His greatest fuinjutsu techniques have always been about summoning: summon himself, summon the dead, and now--

Summon the Shinigami.

He knows that doing so may make his life forfeit--but he would rather himself than his brother. Rather himself than their fledgling village with clans only tentatively attempting peace--he is prepared to die.

But this universe has other plans.

Tobirama was always her favorite Hokage.


	9. Reshuffle the Deck

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Or, Five Genin Teams Shikako Wasn’t On

**_Four of a Kind_ **

_(The Ino-Shika-Cho is a good combination, but it’s never good to let genin teams become predictable–it makes them vulnerable to enemy action, and considering who makes up the roster of this year’s new genin? Vulnerability is to be avoided at all cost._

_The idea behind the trio is still sound, shouldn’t be abandoned completely, and so the Hokage and Academy teachers build the new teams with that in mind._

_It’s not their fault that it completely throws off a good chunk of her foreknowledge.)_

“This is…” Shikako says, words drifting off to look at her two teammates.

“Uh, sensei?” Ino picks up, immediately “I think you’ve gotten it wrong–it’s Ino-Shika-Cho, not Ino-Shika-Inu.”

Akamaru barks, Kiba does too. “What you’ve got a problem with dogs?” Smirk easily changeable into baring of teeth.

“Only the ones that haven’t bathed in three days,” Ino says, sharp smile of her own, “Aren’t you supposed to have a good sense of smell?”

Shikako cuts in, brings the tension down but adds to the teasing as well. “Not all of us can smell like a flower shop all the time, Ino.”

_(With a steady jounin sensei and normal missions, they would have become strong, solid shinobi in a few years._

_With Anko as their sensei, in a matter of months they become the first genin team with the bingo book orders Flee On Sight)_

* * *

**_Full House [of Queens]_ **

“They didn’t even try for subtle, did they?” Shikako asks Kurenai-sensei, mouth an opposite slant to her raised eyebrow.

Her jounin sensei shrugs, “You could argue that’s what this entire team is for–given the tenets of kunoichi and all that.”

“Don’t you think this will be fun, Shikako?” Sakura asks, stars in her eyes–the disappointment at not being on the same team as Sasuke quickly passing at the excitement of being on a team with her two best friends.

“And anyway,” Ino adds, “Who needs a bunch of boys messing up our missions?”

_(Despite the tenets of kunoichi, their team does not maintain subtlety for too long. Oh, their missions succeed, no doubt about that, and they’re never actually caught; but rumors of a group of girls capable of slipping in unnoticed and completely destroying any opposition spreads._

_They become known as the Three Beauties of Konoha, though mostly, all enemies can remember about them is the color of their hair and the scent of fresh flowers)_

“Someone asked me to punch them today,” Sakura says to her teammates, bemused.

Although the three of them have long since been promoted from genin, they tend to team up with each other regardless. Why mess with success?

“Oh, yeah?” Shikako adds absentmindedly, writing in one of her eternally present journals even as Ino begins to pull it away, “Me, too, a couple of days ago.”

“Did you?” Sakura asks, watching in amusement as Ino and Shikako begin playing tug of war with the journal.

“Yeah, he wouldn’t leave me alone until I did and by that point he was being so annoying it was a relief to do it.”

“I made mine pay for it,” Ino says, to which both of her teammates look up at her smug face in confusion. Pulling the journal from Shikako’s slack hands is easy; her expression only becomes more pleased. “He clearly wanted it for some reason, and why do something for free when you can get paid for it?”

“And?” Sakura prompts, while Shikako bemoans her lack of initiative.

“It bought me a new dress,” Ino brags. And because she’s always a well of information, she explains to her teammates. “Apparently there’s some kind of superstition going around that if someone gets punched by all three of us they get good luck.”

* * *

**_Two Pair_ **

_(She pulls back too late. The teachers have already spotted her talent; genius, prodigy, legend-in-the-making they murmur to each other. She gets accelerated, graduates among students several years older than herself._

_When her genin team is called, she swallows down bile.)_

“Shikako-chan,” Kabuto says, mild smile on his face. All of his smiles are mild, she wants to punch him in the face.

“Yes?” She chirps back, slipping into her role of over-eager kouhai. She’ll admit he knows an awful lot of tricks that’ll be useful in the future.

Let him think he’s converting the Jounin Commander’s daughter, she’ll feed him lies and bleed him dry.

“You’re always so curious,” he says, ever so patronizing, “it’s a good thing to have in a student.”

“Well, you’re a good teacher,” she says back–always flattering, always sweet–she needs to appear as a book smart genius, not an actual threat.

“It’s not so much a virtue when it comes to espionage,” Kabuto amends, voice still pleasant but suddenly sharp and deadly.

She can feel the blood freeze in her veins. Literally.

“W-what are you talking about, Kabuto-senpai?” she chokes out through the clawing in her throat, her rapidly stiffening lungs.

“Don’t worry,” he says as her vision goes blurry, then dark, “It’s time for you to get a real teacher.”

_(When she wakes up, she’s almost relieved to see Orochimaru’s face._

_Better him than Danzo, she thinks even as the abomination of mutated natural chakra burns through her. The Curse Seal._

_Kabuto won’t need to convert her if a piece of Orochimaru is literally looking over her shoulder.)_

* * *

**_Straight_ **

The night of graduation, Shikako faints while walking up the stairs.

It’s also the first time the Kyuubi’s malevolent chakra has been felt in over a decade.

The two events are not unrelated.

Needless to say, Shikaku will not be having his daughter on the same team as someone whose chakra can render her unconscious. He knows the Academy teachers think he is just pulling rank, getting his child off a team with That Monster, but Shikaku’s always been more practical than that: it’d be like having someone allergic to dogs on the same team as an Inuzuka, illogical and troublesome.

And anyway, he remembers Kushina and Mito-sama before that, neither of them were monsters. How could their legacy ever be one?

_(Shikako looks at her teammates and feels nothing but conflicted, guilty relief._

_A part of her had wanted to be on a more integral team, to better alter the course of future events. But another part of her had always been afraid of taking on such a daunting task._

_Better to be on a team with these two–childhood bullies though they may be–than, god forbid, Naruto and Sasuke. She’d constantly be in the crossfire of powerhouses, pushed further and further to a breaking point that she doesn’t know where it will lead._

_Jiro and Youbirin are blank slates as far as she’s concerned. She doesn’t need to worry about them, doesn’t need to watch over their destinies. They could die for all she knows, and plotwise it’d still lead to a good ending.)_

“Fuck!” She shouts, turning to her fallen teammate who has crumpled to the forest floor. Youbirin gives a bloody cough in response, hands shakily going for the sword through his chest. “Jiro get over here!”

“I’m a little busy!” He shouts back, sending a bolt of lightning towards his opponent before retreating. They’re fighting Rock nin, with an Earth Pillar it becomes useless.

“I can’t heal this on my own,” Shikako says, hands futilely glowing green anyway. “Why would you do that? You could probably heal something like this.”

Youbirin gives another wet cough.

“Don’t die, please,” she begs, “You matter to me, don’t die, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it, don’t die, don’t die,” she chants, hoping and pushing herself to her limits.

That’s the problem with genin teammates–they’ll always be important, no matter who they are.

* * *

**_Royal Flush_ **

_(On the one hand, traveling through time to meet the Nidaime Hokage is pretty cool. Getting to compare fuinjutsu notes with him is practically a dream come true._

_Somehow being stuck randomly appearing at various points in his life? She’d rather not._

_But, well, there’s a silver lining to everything._

_She just has to find this one.)_

Team Tobirama is a seven person team.

Except for when it’s an eight person team.

Tobirama-sensei only briefly introduces the girl before they’re off on what will undoubtedly be a difficult mission.

Cloud shinobi. It won’t be anything but difficult.

She’s a stranger and it shows, their team falling into the familiar grouping–Kagami, Danzo, Torifu and Hiruzen, Homura, Koharu–while sensei single-handedly destroys his own opponents. It leaves her alone, and for a moment Kagami worries, before he realizes that she’s holding her own.

More than, even.

_(The Kinkaku Force should have overpowered them, forced the genin to flee while their sensei sacrifices himself._

_Eight instead of seven._

_Nobody dies that day. The hat does not get passed on quite yet)_

She’s not a permanent member of their team, which confuses Kagami because as far as he can tell she’s not on any other team either.

“I don’t recognize her,” Torifu says in a hush, which is especially worrying. It’s not an admission, it’s a clue: if Torifu can’t recognize someone wearing Nara sigils, something is going on.

“She keeps staring at me,” Danzo adds, before his face flushes with a sudden realization, “Not–not like that!” he says, embarrassed, while Kagami and Torifu share a smirk.

“She is rather pretty,” Kagami teases, Torifu nodding in solemn agreement, because an opportunity to fluster Danzo is always something to take advantage of. And besides, it’s not as if they don’t trust her–Tobirama-sensei trusts her, and more besides she’s risked her life alongside them–but this is a mystery that needs solving.

_(They never do figure it out.)_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So the first two are from a conversation I had with [@unfortunatehatlessness](https://tmblr.co/m0ZZovrIjive-XcvsoVE1YQ), the third one was just a haunting idea I had–though, highly influenced by [@donapoetrypassion](https://tmblr.co/mgmcRi9Y7pTVG7HQCYQ5w_g)’s [In Which Someone Attempts To Kidnap Shikamaru, Instead](http://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.fanfiction.net%2Fs%2F11488707%2F1%2FIn-Which-Someone-Attempts-to-Kidnap-Shikamaru-Instead&t=ZTM4YzFmZjdkMzI0NjRhMTNkY2Y0MzFiZTZiMmIyYmU1Yzk3OGRiMyx6MmdxN244UA%3D%3D). Fourth is the [anonymously prompted AU](http://jacksgreysays.tumblr.com/post/143780474734/sorta-prompt-i-think-shikako-would-have-been) of [@kuipernebula](https://tmblr.co/mQopVTHG82sxuzHQg9DI7tA)’s and mine [Team Medic!AU](http://jacksgreysays.tumblr.com/tagged/team-medic) (uh, sorry for the bleak ending on that one, it works out okay in the end?) And fifth is kiiinda a response to Linnypants’ comment about Shikako’s POV of my [Semi-Phenomenal, Nearly Cosmic](http://jacksgreysays.tumblr.com/post/146717395638/semi-phenomenal-nearly-cosmic-or-three-times) ficlet.


	10. Primadonna Girl (Says No Thank You)

Given everything that happened in the Land of Moon, it’s not a surprise that she forgot basically everything leading up to it.

So when Dad says, over one of the rare dinners where all of them are present, “Shikako, we need to talk tomorrow,” she freezes up immediately.

Her shoulders go tense and her eyes drop from Dad’s face to Shikamaru who is carefully maneuvering his chopsticks with the Shadow Hand and looking so uninterested that he’s no doubt preparing to memorize every word and breath of this upcoming conversation.

Mum doesn’t look worried at all; but, then again, Mum occasionally works for T&I so that’s not exactly a ringing endorsement.

She swallows, a little irritated at the way the food has now turned tasteless in her mouth. “About what, Dad?” She tries for casual and misses by a mile.

Dad quirks an eyebrow, noticing, well, everything about her response. “Nothing bad,” he assures, which doesn’t work. “Noriko has been trying to catch the both of us at the same time.” That works better, mostly because…

“Ino’s mum?” she asks, confused. Shikako just saw Ino a few days ago, and she was fine. Also, why would Dad need to be involved.

Dad nods, “In this case, it’s in a more official capacity.”

Ah. That makes slightly more sense. Ino’s mum works for the part of the Intel Division that Shikako would liken to her old world’s Public Relations if it didn’t also include the negotiators in charge of extracting altered mission fees and the ominously named ‘Counter Intelligence’ Squad.

Unsurprisingly, they work closely with T&I.

Worrying, but not overly much. “So tomorrow morning?”

“The Tower,” Dad says, “at eight.” That done, the meal resumes as best as it can.

* * *

Walking to the Tower with Dad is a little weird. This is the path she walks for work with Cryptography, to get new missions, but with Dad? It’s as if she’s suddenly de-aged and become a child needing to be escorted by her parent.

But it’s not uncomfortable–the silence is calming, doesn’t let her anxiety or paranoia build up.

Inside the Tower, she follows after Dad, not really sure where they’re meant to meet Noriko-san and unwilling to get lost. That’s not an exaggeration, either. Like the Academy building, the Tower has an unusual layout so outsiders can’t just walk in and find sensitive information. The only places equally accessible is the bottom floor, where clients are processed.

At a nondescript office after way too many turns, Dad stops and knocks on the door a little unnecessarily. If this is Noriko-san’s office then she already knows they’re there.

“Come in already,” her voice calls out, “I’ve been wanting to get this done with for weeks,” she says gesturing at the chairs in front of her desk.

Shikako’s eyes dart around the room, but there’s nothing really particularly interesting about it. Except for the vase of fresh flowers–freesias–there’s no hint of this being Ino’s mum’s office. Which is probably the point.

“You know why I’ve asked you here,” Noriko-san begins, but Shikako feels obligated to interrupt.

“Uh, I don’t, actually,” she volunteers hesitantly. It wouldn’t do to start a meeting off on completely different pages, but it kind of feels rude to correct her.

Noriko-san looks at Dad exasperated, “Really, Shikaku?” she asks, with such a familiarity that it reminds Shikako keenly of Ino.

Dad shrugs, “It’d be more efficient if you explained it; you are the expert here.”

“More efficient for you, maybe,” Noriko-san snipes back, but lets the matter drop.

Given the tone of the conversation, Shikako is pretty sure that the topic of this meeting isn’t anything too bad.

She would have lost money by betting on it not being utterly and completely weird, though.

* * *

“I have… what?” she asks, no doubt sending completely baffled looks at Noriko-san and Dad.

“Fan mail, Shikako,” Dad says, repeating what Noriko-san just said. “Presumably from fans of yours,” he adds, because Dad never lets an opportunity for trolling to pass by.

“Like… mission requests?” she clarifies, almost hopefully. That would make sense–sometimes the more famous shinobi get requested specifically for missions. It costs the clients more, of course, but then they get the pleasure of saying they’ve hired so-and-so which apparently is like trading cards for nobility–given her showing at the Grass Chuunin Exams and rapid promotion, that’s not too unexpected.

“No, Shikako,” Noriko-san says gently, yet amused, “Fan mail. You apparently have quite the following from your role in the last Princess Fuun movie.”

The strangled sound that comes out of her mouth could possibly be described as a whimper.

“We’ve already discussed the matter of royalties with the studio–you as well as your teammates and sensei will be getting your deserved payment,” at this point Noriko-san’s smile turns sharp, “And given that they used footage of you without your consent, you can be assured that said payment is very high.”

Shikako swallows and tries not to look unassured. Just in case.

“The problem is,” Noriko-san continues, “there are talks of a spin-off series. Namely circling around you. Or rather, Shishimaru’s little sister, Shikako.”

A horrified laugh bubbles out of her before she can catch it.

Dad watches her the same way he does that one particular buck who keeps getting his antlers stuck in the same tree. Confused, but almost impressed.

“Frankly this situation has never come up before–for obvious reasons. You’re a special jounin, you’re more than capable of making this decision on your own, but I’ve included your father in this meeting just in case,” Noriko-san glances pointedly at both her and Dad’s sleeves, “You were, after all, wearing the clan crest and it’s apparently become part of your character’s image.”

Hundreds of years of clan tradition reduced to the costume of a minor character in a movie. Hopefully her ancestors–like Dad, given the not so subtle shaking of his shoulders in quiet laughter–are amused and not insulted.

“The question now is: given this is a unique opportunity, are you at all interested?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _For_ [ _anon who wanted some cosplayers_ ](http://jacksgreysays.tumblr.com/post/149059259084/prompt-sai-and-shikako-deal-with-cosplaying-fans) _but I went with the general idea of Shikako becoming famous outside of being a ninja–because_ [ _Chapter 112_ ](http://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.fanfiction.net%2Fs%2F7347955%2F113%2FDreaming-of-Sunshine&t=OTIwNDE0NTllMGE1ZmE3NGY1MjdmMTJmZWExNjhmMTA1OWQwN2VmZSxIem5hQms0cg%3D%3D) _was hilariously awkward for Shikako and I loved it._


	11. River Running High

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a Haku/Shikako ficlet

The girl from Leaf knocks him down and spares his life and all Haku can think to himself is,

Oh.

Later on he’ll come to the conclusion that this was the beginning.

* * *

It’s a cliche, he knows, but he thinks of people in terms of water. Zabuza-sama, for all that it’s Haku with the blood limit, is ice: sharp and deadly, but almost beautiful for it. Haku himself is more like snow–seemingly soft and corruptible, yet the cold and damp easily drawing the unwary into the gentle embrace of hypothermia.

The Leaf team, too, he thinks in water metaphors. The teacher a lake, placid on the surface but deep and teeming with secrets beneath. Naruto-kun the ocean, wide and encompassing and unstoppable. The other boy a waterfall, predictable yet powerful and compelling.

The girl a river, branching far and wide; life and movement and connections.

* * *

The girl from Leaf knocks him down and spares his life and then Gatou shows up and unsurprisingly betrays them, but that’s okay, Zabuza-sama didn’t like him anyway.

Haku doesn’t say I told you so, but he thinks it very quietly and doesn’t argue at all when Zabuza-sama decides to hang around the Leaf team and the bridge builder like stray cats once fed.

Now that they aren’t on opposing sides, Haku finds he likes the Leaf team–all of them, not just Naruto–likes what they represent.

He’ll never regret being Zabuza-sama’s tool–his apprentice, his friend or the closest thing he’ll allow himself to have–but seeing the Leaf team together makes him yearn. Makes him wish that Kiri were the kind of place where he could’ve had something like that, too. Wish it were the kind of place where survival wasn’t about being the meanest and toughest person around, where an existence wasn’t about survival so much as it was about living.

Having friends you would die for, and a teacher who acknowledges you and indulges in water fights of all things as if there were no dangers or hardships or sadness. Or as if to say yes, there are dangers and hardships and sadness in the world, but for now let us have safety and fun and happiness.

Haku wants that, too.

The girl from Leaf–Shikako–smiles at him and Haku thinks that maybe it’s not so impossible at all.

* * *

The bridge builder’s daughter really does treat them like stray cats once fed–which is a better reception than could be expected considering he and Zabuza-sama were hired to kill her father–and while she watches them warily, she doesn’t ask the team from Leaf to run them off.

Zabuza-sama and he have slept in worse places than in the quiet forest of a newly peaceful country.

Naruto-kun shakily carries them a tray from the bridge builder’s house, and dutifully relays that Tsunami-san told him to tell them that she had cooked extra and it would be a waste of food and that wouldn’t he be a dear and bring this to them?

Zabuza-sama scoffs at the blatant lie, but Haku has always been more practical than that. Isn’t too prideful to turn away even this minimal charity.

He wouldn’t be here with Zabuza-sama if he did.

* * *

Naruto and Shikako switch off on bringing out dinner–not that he and Zabuza-sama are actually dependent on the meals, but it’s nice and reminds him of that life he appreciates but doesn’t have–for obvious reasons. The other boy–Sasuke–is still recovering, for all that Haku’s attack wasn’t fatal, and it’s understandable that he wouldn’t want to be alone with the person who did that to him.

Not that Naruto and Shikako are alone, really, their teacher’s chakra not so much threatening as it is obviously present.

Naruto brings conversation along with the food: a continuous stream of chatter about training and the work on the bridge and the bridge builder’s grandson and tales of the Leaf village and nearly every little observation and thought that went through his mind in the day. Zabuza-sama finds it annoying, Haku thinks it’s hilarious.

Shikako brings secrets–not for charity, but for trade.

* * *

“In theory,” Shikako says one night, “if Hoshigaki Kisame were to  work with a partner–”

“Not likely,” Zaubza-sama scoffs, dismissive.

“Of course,” she says, agreeable veneer over her argument, “Just as you wouldn’t.”

Haku would never smile at Zabuza-sama getting put in his place by a girl practically half his height and a third his weight.

“Theoretically,” she resumes, “he’d have a partner just as strong as him, who specializes in opposing skills.”

Haku tilts his head, “Do you have a specific person in mind?”

Shikako smiles brightly at him, before going onto a complete non sequitur. “Sasuke is naturally skilled in genjutsu.” She frowns, then adds, “The Uchiha used to be one of our village’s strongest bloodlines. Now Sasuke is the only one left in Konoha.”

Uchiha Itachi

He exchanges glances with Zabuza-sama, who nods in understanding and proceeds to tell a completely unrelated story about how a particular fellow former swordsman once fought and nearly lost against a Cloud nin with the strange ability to magnetize his shuriken.

The hour turns late and the Leaf teacher’s chakra flares once–protective and admonishing both–calling Shikako back inside to the bridge builder’s house.

“Thank you for the story,” she says, smile on her face.

Zabuza-sama shrugs, looks away. Haku smiles back.

* * *

The bridge is finished and both groups are ready to depart. The Leaf team back to their village, he and Zabuza-sama to an undisclosed island which may or may not be the headquarters of a number of unaffiliated Kiri nin, no really.

For all that their mission to kill the bridge builder was a failure, the two of them will join with more money and resources–both still from Gatou–than promised. And valuable intel on top of all that.

Though how a girl from Leaf would know the reason behind the Yondaime Mizukage’s bizarre shift from decent leadership to reign of terror is beyond Haku’s guess.

But since Zabuza-sama doesn’t care, Haku doesn’t need to know and neither does the Rebellion.

Besides, she knocked him down and spared his life. All beginnings lead somewhere; eventually the snow will melt and join the river.


	12. Our Share of the World

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Or, Five Times Shikadai Didn’t Regret Having Cousins

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Featuring: Kareru Uzumaki from [You and Me and Baby (Makes Fifteen)](http://archiveofourown.org/works/6945079/chapters/16081249), Sakako Uchiha in her debut, and the next gen Sand Siblings (who I've all interpreted as being adopted in canon anyway)
> 
> Sections not in chronological order.

“Tadaima,” Shikadai calls out tiredly, shucking off his sandals and trying not to drip too much on the floor.

“Okaeri,” a voice calls back in a musical tone, and Shikadai’s already aching muscles tense painfully. He just barely refrains from groaning out loud.

“Little cousin!” Kareru sings, head peeking out from behind the wall of the kitchen before the rest of his body follows. Instead of the standard Konoha chuunin vest, over his purple uniform he’s wearing a bright orange apron decorated with little fans.

It’s absolutely hideous, Shikadai has no idea how he can stand to wear it. The worst part of it is that it wasn’t a gift from any of Kareru’s parents, it was from Shikadai’s mum. Probably just to see the matching faces of horror her husband and son made.

Temari finds Kareru absolutely hilarious–it also doesn’t hurt that he loves to cook, is quite good at it, and tends to take over their kitchen to do so.

This early in the day, though, Kareru’s presence means that most likely both of Shikadai’s parents have gone visiting to Suna.

“Kareru-nii,” Shikadai responds, sullen. It’s not that he doesn’t like his cousin, it’s just that being around any of the Uzumaki–adopted cousin or not–is absolutely exhausting, and after today’s training, Shikadai really doesn’t have the energy to spare.

Kareru’s smile drops off his face, a look of concern replacing it quickly. “Oh no!” he cries out, turning his hand and summoning a pair of light blue towels. He darts forward, draping one around Shikadai’s shoulders, the other over his wet hair. “Water walking?” Kareru asks, beginning to scrub.

Shikadai doesn’t shrug him off, even though he’s not a child anymore. “No,” he sighs, “Moegi-sensei wanted to do some elemental training. Inojin has water nature. Obviously.”

“Mirai was annoyed at me, too, the week we did elemental training,” Kareru reminisces, before clicking his tongue, pulling the dampened towel away, and giving his cousin a smaller, softer smile. “There we go, now Temari-oba can’t get mad at us. Up to the bath with you, I’m making miso eggplant today. It’s my specialty–well, it ought to be, considering how often I make it for Kaka-jii-chan.”

Kareru is the only person in the village that can get away with calling the Rokudaime that.

Despite the awful day, Shikadai can feel his mouth twitch into a smile of his own.

* * *

“Shika,” a voice says, before a body drops down beside his in the grass.

He keeps his gaze skyward but greets back, amiable enough, “‘Kako.”

She shifts her arm, close enough to his that he can feel a line of warmth, but not so close as to touch. He shifts his own so that they do.

Shikadai and his cousin do not always get along, but he can appreciate the times when they do.

“I’d switch places with you, if I could,” Sakako offers, which prompts his thoughts to spin off into futile, impossible directions. He shuts those down quickly enough, no use wasting time on things that can’t be changed.

“You’re just saying that because Inojin’s your best friend,” he says, too heated to be teasing. They both know he doesn’t actually mean best friend.

Sakako doesn’t take offense. “Just like Boruto is yours,” she responds, pointedly.

Shikadai glares at the clouds that have failed to magically solve his problems.

“And anyway,” she continues, defusing the silence, “I’m as much Nara as you.”

Almost reluctantly, Shikadai barks a laugh. “But I’m not half the Uchiha you are.”

Sakako laughs as well, though the exchange is too routine to actually be funny. She sits up, bits of grass caught in the dark strands of her braids.

Automatically, Shikadai begins picking them out for her, but only the ones easily in reach. “Did you want to play video games?” he asks, because watching clouds isn’t nearly as entertaining as his dad makes it seem.

She shakes her head, but smiles to soften the rejection, “Mum came back home yesterday and Dad’s getting out of work early–the three of us are going to celebrate me making genin and come up with some new Uchiha clan traditions.”

Shikadai blinks, unsure if he should be jealous or guilty that the Nara clan’s traditions are so set in stone. He shrugs. “Say hi to Shikako-oba for me.”

“Will do,” she agrees, getting to her feet, “I’ll see you later, Shika.”

He sits up. “Later, 'Kako,” he answers then, as she leaves, quietly adds, “and… thanks.”

She waves, doesn’t look back; Shikadai appreciates it.

* * *

Of his Suna cousins, Shikadai meets Araya first. They are both four years old, and even at that tender age, Araya has already begun wearing a mask–though his first one is cloth and only covers half his face, unlike the full porcelain hannya mask he will one day have.

Araya stands behind Shikako-oba, clinging shyly to her coat, but his eyes dart around in curious amazement. Shikadai doesn’t know why–it’s just the Nara clan woods, it’s nothing interesting. In contrast, he is being carried by his mum, head drooping sleepily every so often to the crook of her neck. It’s very early in the morning, sun barely peeking over the horizon, but Shikako-oba only rarely returns home.

His dad has already rushed forward, arm curling around his sister in an embrace she returns just as strong. They separate after a long moment, Shikako-oba’s hand dropping down to curl protectively around Araya’s head. He seems to calm, settles even closer to her.

“This is Araya,” she introduces, “Sabaku no Araya.”

Shikadai’s mum gasps softly, grip tightening to the point where he complains wordlessly and squirms to be put down. She complies, places him on his feet, and unfortunately he didn’t think this through because now he has to stand up with his own ability.

He really just wants to go back inside the house now, back to bed preferably, but he knows better than to interrupt the adults talking about adoption and clan registers and succession.

During their discussion, Araya has let go of Shikako-oba and made his way toward Shikadai swaying listlessly in his spot. His stomach growls; Shikadai is already keen enough to spot an opportunity when presented to him.

“Hungry?” he asks, grabbing onto Araya’s hand and already leading him toward the house, “We have bread.”

Araya hesitates, glancing back at Shikako-oba who sends him a nod and a smile, before eagerly following Shikadai into the house. “Do you have melon? It’s my favorite.”

It takes both of them to drag a chair screeching into the kitchen, but they succeed and reach the bread box easily enough. They do, in fact, have melon bread.

* * *

The first time Shikadai visits Suna is a miserable experience for the most part–he hates the heat, the dryness, the sand. He’s not yet a genin, hasn’t learned the chakra trick that allows temperature regulation, but the worst of it is the sand especially–it gets into his handheld and makes it malfunction within the first few hours of entering the desert.

It really does not bode well for this two week long visit.

But his mum looks happy in a way that he’s only seen a few times before–or, well, maybe happy isn’t the right word. Comfortable would be better–a result of being back in her homeland.

She walks through the village with confidence and familiarity; even after the years of living away the people recognize her and visibly defer to her; respect her, admire her. It’s nothing like the way she’s treated in Konoha, even now a stranger in a strange land.

For her, he tries not to complain too much.

Araya is busy with training even though Academy’s on break–Shikadai is already overheated without physical exertion so he turns down the offer to join. And plus, he’s not interested in kenjutsu.

Unfortunately, with that option removed and his handheld still busted because of the sand, he’s absolutely bored.

He’s languishing even in the air-conditioned hotel room, laying sideways on the couch, head lolling over the armrest.

He hears a snort from the doorway, spots Yodo smirking, ever present headphones around her neck. “Mother said most Nara were lazy, but this is pushing it, don’t you think?”

Except for a sigh, Shikadai doesn’t respond, closing his eyes as if that will make her disappear. Of his cousins, Yodo is his least favorite, which is just fine since he’s pretty sure she dislikes him, too.

“You’re usually playing games, at least,” she says, not taking the hint and actually coming into the room, perching on the back of the couch.

Shikadai grunts, waves at his handheld, “Can’t. Sand.”

Yodo snorts again, pulls her music player out of her pocket and gestures with it, “You think we haven’t found a way to deal with sand in our tech?” She makes a grabbing hand motion, “Give it here,” she demands.

Shikadai considers their rocky relationship, shrugs, then hands it over. It’s already not working, it’s not like there’s much she can do to make it worse.

But she takes it apart with care, expression going focused and nearly serene, checking over each piece and extracting grains of sand. Her fingertips glow with chakra as she concentrates on certain parts, smoothing away scratches.

When she reassembles it and switches on the power successfully, she smirks again and drops it onto Shikadai’s chest. He doesn’t even mind that much.

“You’re welcome.”

* * *

Shinki is only two years older than Shikadai, but he’s always seemed so much more mature: serious in a way that’s impressive, almost intimidating, rather than the annoying way Inojin constantly wants to train after school.

If one of Shikadai’s friends showed up with makeup like Shinki, he’d probably laugh at them, but on his cousin it looks fierce–like proper warpaint; a true shinobi, not a child playing at one.

The cloak of iron sand certainly doesn’t make him any less impressive. A mass of tangible shadows for all that he doesn’t use any of the Nara clan jutsu. No, Shinki focuses more on his father’s heritage than his mother’s–not that Shikadai has any room to throw stones.

Over all, it’s not surprising that the two of them aren’t close, but it’s a distance that Shikadai doesn’t know how to bridge and it rests uneasily on him.

Especially now, when it’s just the two of them, Shikako-oba having been called away by a frantic looking chuunin. She had hesitated for a moment, glancing between the two of them–worried less about their lack of a relationship and more about leaving a recent genin from a foreign country and an Academy student unsupervised–but it’s not as if they’re in any danger in the Nara clan head’s house, even with said clan head out of the village.

“Don’t–” she says, pauses, reconsiders, “… try not to get into trouble without me,” then, as she follows the nervous chuunin, mutters to herself, “Or at least not my level of trouble.”

Shikadai had looked at her in confusion but Shinki, having been her apprentice for three months already, only nodded obediently.

That was ten minutes ago.

“Video games?” Shikadai suggests hesitantly in the awkward silence. Though maybe it’s only Shikadai that thinks its awkward–Shinki looks like he’d be comfortable sitting and not saying anything for a couple hours more at least.

“No thank you,” Shinki answers, which puts that idea in the ground.

Shikadai fidgets, looks around desperately.

Shinki notices, puts him out of his misery. He counteroffers with, “Shogi?”

Shikadai sighs but leads the way to where his dad keeps the board. Of all the Nara traits Shinki decided to take, it’s this one. But even though it’s painfully old fashioned, Shikadai at least knows how to play–which is more than can be said for his classmates.

They set up the board and play but the silence turns awkward once more.

“You don’t like me very much, do you?” Shikadai asks, because it’s not as if there are many opportunities for the two of them to be alone.

His cousin is already a study in stillness, but the question prompts a tension which looks painful.

There’s a pause before Shinki answers, carefully considering his words before he speaks, “I don’t dislike you.” It’s a backhanded compliment at best, a confession at worst.

“Why?” Because sometimes even Shikadai gets curious.

This time, the answer is much faster, accompanied by a small, undiplomatic frown: “You’re firstborn of the firstborn.” Shinki says, as if that explains everything.

For a moment, Shikadai is confused: What would Shinki care about the Nara clan head succession? It’s not as if Shikako-oba ever made any attempt on the position, and it’s not like he even uses shadow jutsu anyway.

But then he realizes, Shinki’s not talking about Shikadai’s dad. He’s talking about Shikadai’s mum.

Shikadai’s mum who very easily could have been Kazekage if she had wanted to.

As if spotting Shikadai’s understanding, Shinki continues with a sigh that finally makes him seem human. One with emotions, even, “It doesn’t really matter, the Council would rather have Araya before someone raised Leaf. But it’s been…” he sighs again, “They prefer Yodo anyway and she doesn’t even have Magnet Release.”

Oh. That’s…

“That’s rough, buddy,” Shikadai tries, then automatically winces. Talk about awkward.

Shinki snorts, a smile creeping onto his face, before it turns into full blown laughter. Shikadai stares in amazement–he’s never seen Shinki do either–before he starts laughing, too.

When Shikako-oba returns, Shikadai is carefully coaching an uncertain Shinki through the tutorial level of the newest game he bought, even though Shikadai hasn’t yet played it himself.


	13. Walking Around (Like Regular People)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> (a Sakako Uchiha ficlet)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For some context, check out the [Sakako Uchiha tag](http://jacksgreysays.tumblr.com/tagged/sakako-uchiha) on my tumblr. In particular, [this post](http://jacksgreysays.tumblr.com/post/150001391889/instead-of-clouds-sakako-watches-the-void-between).
> 
> edit 2016-09-10: added outsider!POV omake

She is born with this ability, doesn’t know it is an ability. Doesn’t know that it’s something that other people can’t do. Can’t see.

Dad says that even when she was a baby her eyes would track things that weren’t there–Mum corrects him and says that other babies do that, too.

But other babies don’t grow up seeing ghosts.

* * *

Her parents don’t realize something is different about her until she is six years old. She’s just had her first day at the Academy and finds it a lot more boring than she expected.

There’s far more talking than she likes, and not even about anything of interest–just things she’s already been taught at home or been told that is useless.

The downfalls of being the daughter of S-rank shinobi.

So when Dad comes home from work–earlier than she’s used to–he finds her practicing with his spare kunai.

He rushes to her, pulls the weapons out of her hands, throws them unerringly at a tree without looking as he kneels in front of her, checking frantically and futilely for injuries.

“What are you doing Sakako?” he asks, hands running over her arms, her hands. She squirms, doesn’t know why he’s being so weird. “I told you not to touch those without supervision.”

She pouts, doesn’t appreciate being scolded. “I am being supervised,” she says in her own defense, “Itachi-oji is watching me.”

Dad sends a hawk for Mum that night; she returns the next day, weeks ahead of schedule.

Sakako has an appointment with Ino-oba and Sakura-oba later that day.

They find she’s telling the truth: she really can see dead people. Ino-oba and Sakura-oba offer to keep it a secret, but Sakako’s parents shrug them off.

“When has secrets ever helped us?”

Mum and Dad then explain to her that it would be better to keep her ability to herself, but if she wants to tell someone then they’re not going to stop her. They emphasize the importance of only telling people she can trust, but she’s a six year old with no friends yet.

Except for her parents and the ghosts she sees, she doesn’t trust anyone.

* * *

Sakako has a sister, though they’re not raised as such.

Sarada is Dad’s other daughter with Sakura-oba, because Konoha is trying to repopulate the Uchiha bloodline and Sakura-oba and Ino-oba can’t have children by themselves.

Maybe if it were just Sarada, she and Sakako would be close.

But Sarada has Inojin; Sakako has no one.

* * *

A few days later, Mum gives her a bracelet with an elaborate array of seals. It’s not the first–Sakako already has a bracelet with beads that can light up and a necklace that will summon one of Dad’s hawks in emergencies–but this one is a lot more complex.

She channels chakra through it and only startles a little bit when a strict looking brown haired man appears. What’s more surprising is that Mum can also see him.

His name is Kisuke Maboroshi, Konoha’s only ghost shinobi.

Mum mutters something about six senses and someone named Kuro-sensei, before stepping back so the two of them can get acquainted.

Sakako wouldn’t say she likes Kisuke-san better than Itachi-oji, but she likes how she’s not the only one who can see him, and Mum looks a lot less tense around the eyes.

Plus, he’s been teaching her some really cool wire traps which is way more interesting than her lessons at the Academy.

* * *

When Mum is out of the village and Dad is busy with work, Sakako goes to the Nara clan compound after school.

Most of the time, it’s nice: everyone there is alive, Baa-chan will show her earth jutsu or new recipes, Jii-chan answers even her silliest questions, and Shikadai will indulge her when she wants to go see the deer even though it must be such a commonplace sight for him.

Other times Boruto is there.

He’s arrogant and selfish and infuriatingly loud and she doesn’t know why Shikadai likes him.

He also brings with him three ghosts; she doesn’t appreciate the boundaries of her life being blurred.

* * *

Her favorite thing in the world is stargazing with her parents.

Dad tries to keep his work restricted to certain hours so he can be with her after school, but sometimes that’s not possible. He’s head of the Konoha Police Force, after all, and crime doesn’t stick to business hours. Mum is often out of the village–research trips, Dad says, she’s always been pushing her limits; Sakako thinks it’s just wanderlust–but when she’s around, she joins their stargazing as well.

Sakako likes those times best, when she’ll tell them stories of the stars–of constellations that don’t really match the sky, but which are entertaining nonetheless.

In the rare times when it’s just Sakako and Mum, stargazing becomes more like observing the darkness that just happens to be interrupted by pinpricks of light. These times have different stories, too.

* * *

Years pass: she learns, she grows.

She graduates.

She gets put on a team with Boruto and Mitsuki–who is some kind of weird fanboy of her parents–and wishes desperately she were put on another team.

At least Mitsuki doesn’t have any ghosts haunting him.

Or not of the literal kind, anyway.

* * *

It takes a long time for Sakako to activate her Sharingan, long enough that she thinks maybe she doesn’t have it.

She’s as much Nara as Uchiha, after all, and shadow jutsu come to her as easily as it does others of Mum’s clan. Maybe that side is more prominent.

Plus, neither side of her heritage can see ghosts, so she thinks maybe that’s what she has instead.

It turns out, it’s just because she’s never been stressed enough to activate it. Until now, obviously.

The enemy nin she’s up against meets her newly red eyes for a brief moment, but that moment is enough.

She knows what genjutsu to put him under. Sakako has been fighting him long enough to memorize the appearance of his ghosts.

And ghosts have always been on her side.

* * *

* * *

_** (omake) ** _

_When it’s late at night and you hear a noise and the wind rustles the branches of the trees._

_You know better than to light a campfire, but a part of you wishes you had now. But maybe that would be worse–you nearby the fire as something moves in the darkness out of your line of sight. No fire means no shadows, right? You’re safer this way._

_But another breeze catches you off guard, kicks up dust and fallen leaves, and you reflexively shut your eyes. That is your second mistake tonight._

_You open your eyes and for a moment you think you see eyes in the trees–red and horrible and all seeing–but that’s gone as soon as you blink. You almost miss them, though because now there’s the shape of a man in front of you. Translucent and glowing and impossibly familiar because you know this man. You killed this man._

_No, you think, backing away, forgetting your training, stumbling away in front of forces you cannot understand._

_No, you scream, as the ghost descends, ready and eager to get its revenge._

In the treetops, a little girl waits as her enemy falls to the ground, clawing at his own face. Soon enough his cries stop, and she waits before approaching him, secure in the knowledge that he’s truly incapacitated.

She never even touched him.


	14. Take A Step That Is New

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Or, How Ino, Sai, and Sakura Get Together

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (the [original post](http://jacksgreysays.tumblr.com/post/150203784559/random-not-quite-relevant-thought-i-really-hope) has some additional brainstorming about their future together)

“Beautiful,” the cute guy calls her, and Ino just barely controls her blush. 

“Obviously,” she says, flipping her hair, “but you’ll have to try harder than that to impress me.” 

The cute guy, Sai, nods as if noting it, all but writing it down. “Do you have any advice? A book, maybe?” 

Ino smiles; how does Shikako find these guys? 

“You should come by the flower shop,” Ino suggests, invites, beguiles, “I can teach you far better than any book can.” 

* * *

Sai shows up at the flower shop the next day and maybe he didn’t really understand what she was offering, but it’s a nice enough conversation.

He actually listens to her, not just stares mutely and tunes her out. He asks follow up questions and by the time an hour has passed she’s discussing the pros and cons of various flower arranging styles as methods of poison dispersal to a boy who actually wants to know more. 

She invites him to come back. 

Maybe it didn’t turn out the way she wanted it to, but she finds she doesn’t mind at all. 

And anyway, he still calls her beautiful. 

* * *

Ino looks forward to the kunoichi meetings, tries to go to as many as she can–it’s good for networking and collaborating, true, but mostly she just misses it. Misses kunoichi classes at the Academy, and sleepovers at her house, and the way things were easier and brighter and happier then.

Ino knows she and Shikako have changed too much–seen to much and done too much–to ever really get that kind of innocence back. Not that theirs had been all that pure, honed and shaped the way all clan kids are from birth, but still. 

Sakura still has it, that brightness that has nothing to do with the color of her hair and eyes. That core of strength and beauty that no poisonous flower arrangement could ever match. 

Ino looks forward to the kunoichi meetings because, at the heart of it, she looks forward to seeing Sakura. 

* * *

Things… happen.

No, that’s not right: Ino makes things happen. 

She’s never been one for sitting back and pining–she’ll play things close to the chest like any proper Yamanaka, but she’s always been vocal about her likes and dislikes. 

This time around, she gets liked back. 

* * *

Once, Sakura visits her at the flower shop at the same time Sai is there for their meetings–Sakura is usually busy with shifts at the hospital and her lessons from Tsunade-sama, and Ino’s not entirely sure what Sai gets up to when he’s not at the flower shop or going on bizarre missions with Shikako.

Once is all it takes. 

Sakura skirts around the counter, presses a kiss to Ino’s cheek in greeting, and for all that it’s chaste it makes her blush. 

Sai tilts his head, observant as always. 

Sakura nudges her in curiosity. 

“Sakura, this is Sai, cute artist,” Ino introduces, “Sai, this is Sakura, amazing girlfriend.” 

“It’s nice to meet you, Sai,” Sakura says with a sweet smile. 

“It’s nice to meet you, too, Amazing Girlfriend,” Sai responds, a smile of his own, “I appreciate having a senpai in dating Ino. Please look after me,” he adds a polite bow, oblivious to the reactions he receives. 

Sakura blinks in surprise. Mostly confused, but a little… considering. 

Ino looks between the two of them and has a revelation. 


	15. Baby Grows Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> snippets in Kareru Uzumaki's life

Every year on his birthday (or, rather, the day Mum found him) Kareru’s aunts and uncles hold a tournament.

Supposedly it’s to see who his favorite is–he knows better than to actually answer that question–but Kareru thinks it’s just an excuse to hang out with each other. Or maybe “excuse” is the wrong word, it makes it sound like a bad thing; maybe “reason” would be better.

Every year on his birthday all the people he loves gather together and there’s nothing bad about that.

* * *

“I’m thinking about growing my hair out,” Kareru says, tugging on the red strands that brush against his ears. He is the Uzumaki clan head, a recent genin, and simultaneously thirteen years old and somewhere in his forties. Maybe fifties.

“Oh, yeah?” Mirai asks, pulling on her own long dark locks. They curl around her fingers and cling like little tendrils–to her fingers and, from the leaves and twigs in her hair, everything else, “I’ve been thinking of cutting mine.”

“I’ll do it if you do,” Kareru promises, reaching out with his pinky extended.

Mirai blinks at him before smiling, matches him and intertwines their pinkies.

Kareru will remember this moment for the rest of his life.

* * *

People expect a lot from him, he knows, even people he’s never met.

He’s a bit famous–not to be vain–given who his parents are and the circumstances of his birth (or, rather, finding). And not to mention, he’s been communally raised by a group of shinobi who can individually be called impressive and collectively be considered overkill.

He has a good foundation to build from, the best foundation it could be said–again, not to be vain–and so he knows that the expectations on him aren’t entirely unfair.

He’s not going to be the Sage of Six Paths come again. He’s not going to be the Uzukage, resurrecting–figuratively, of course–the fallen village of Uzushio. He’s not going to single-handedly revolutionize the field of fuinjutsu and usher in an era of prosperity and peace on top of the already prosperous and peaceful existence the world is currently enjoying.

Kareru won’t live up to everybody’s expectations, certainly not those expectations, but it’s nice to think that people think he can. The fact that people think that of him, even if those are exaggerations and extremes, is only because in some way they believe in him.

And even if he doesn’t know what he wants to do yet, it’s still nice to be believed in.

* * *

Baa-chan teaches him how to cook, how to lie with a smile, and how to flip backwards into a one handed handstand and kick someone in the face all in one smooth movement.

Surprisingly, all three things save his life. Even more surprisingly, it’s all during the same mission.

TenTen-oba… er, that is, TenTen-sensei, stares at him, hands on her hips, with an expression he’s seen her give Mum before: confused, but reluctantly impressed.

“We’re not even Team Seven,” she says, as she signals for Mirai to tie up the prisoner and Shachi to secure the perimeter, “I didn’t think this would be a problem,” she sounds even a little bit irritated–but her hands are gentle when she checks the stab wound on his shoulder, and so he knows she’s mostly just worried.

“Sorry,” he says, hissing in pain as she tugs the kunai out, and sticks a healing tag on the wound. One of her inventions together with Sakura-oba–translating the Mystical Palm jutsu into seals–something he’s been meaning to ask her to teach him.

“Don’t apologize,” Mirai says, having finished tying up the prisoner thoroughly and with a knockout tag to boot, “It’s not your fault,” she says pointedly in Shachi’s direction, who looks away with reddening cheeks.

“It’s nobody’s fault,” TenTen-sensei says, helping Kareru to his feet once the healing tag has run its course, “Although I’m sure your father will tell me otherwise.”

Kareru doesn’t know what TenTen-sensei and Tou-chan have against each other–something to do with how much of a bastard he was as a genin, Dad will say–but he has long since learned how to capitalize on it.

“I won’t tell him if you teach me the healing tag,” he says with a wide grin. He can fix the hole in his shirt and wash away the blood easily, it’s the lying that will be difficult: Tou-chan does have the Sharingan, after all, and he has years of interpreting Mum’s carefully crafted understatements.

But Baa-chan did teach him how to lie with a smile and that’s one thing Kareru learned better than Mum.

* * *

Mum isn’t around a lot–traveling and researching and (though he knows he’s not supposed to know) maintaining her part of Konoha’s extensive spy network–which makes the time she is around all the more precious.

“Kareru!” she calls out, before he can get within five feet of her. He knows he’ll never really be able to sneak up on her–her sensor abilities and his chakra capacity making the very idea impossible–but he likes to try anyway. She’s not angry or annoyed by it, gladly accepting the hug he gives her and even tolerating the way he lifts her off the ground for a moment.

She’s still taller than him–which some part of him is relieved by, never mind that he’s outgrown both of his dads–but she’s thin in his arms, light and easy to carry. He wonders if she’s been eating enough out on the road all alone, and he finds the thought infinitely sad.

This is a part of growing up.

* * *

When he was a toddler, Kareru got to be Hokage for a day.

Not really, of course. It was mostly Kaka-jii-chan letting him play with the Hokage’s hat and draw on no doubt terribly important documents, but it’s one of Kareru’s earliest memories. The view from the Hokage’s desk as shinobi come and bow and speak and leave, the entire village spreading out from the tower like ripples from a fallen object.

It’s a nice memory, but Kareru knows he doesn’t want it to happen again. He loves Konoha, it’s his home even if he wasn’t born here, but Hokage for one day is enough for him.


	16. Breaking The Shackle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> aka, Shikako and Neji’s Revolutionary Crusade of Fuinjutsu and Great Justice

She’ll admit it wasn’t a particularly noble beginning–certainly not on her end–it wasn’t outrage at injustice, or empathy for the oppressed.

It wasn’t even the opposite: scheming to overthrow the largest and most powerful clan in Konoha, or gain the allegiance of over a hundred people with a blood limit.

It was just curiosity… and not a small amount of ego. Riding the high of her own ability.

Because if she could outmaneuver Danzo, could best Orochimaru in sealing, could survive battle against a literal goddess–

(could defy death over and over again)

–what were the Hyuuga clan’s laws to her?

* * *

TenTen is a fuinjutsu master in her own right, though with a different specialty and style.

She’s been friends and teammates with Neji for so many years, as close to family as she’s ever known–she has nearly as much a stake in his freedom as he himself does.

But she is an orphan without a last name; the Byakugan has great worth to Konoha.

* * *

Neji has long since changed his view on fate. 

Or, at least, his relationship to it.

He still thinks fate exists, but who is he to say what it might be? Who is he to say who will fail and who will succeed?

Lee has long since surpassed the predictions a younger, brattier Neji had once made for him. So, too, has his cousin grown into her potential despite his pessimistic bullying.

He has watched, time and time again, as his friends and his village have defied the odds–rejected what should have been their fated ends–and lived despite everything against them.

But perhaps that is fate. Perhaps fate is kinder than he thought. Beneath his forehead protector is a curse, but perhaps fate will be kind to him this once. 

But if its not–if fate is not kind–then he will do as he has been taught and fight against it with all he has.

* * *

Sai has a scar on his tongue, a remnant of the seal of secrecy that all ROOT members once had.

Given the placement and size, it’s not noticeable at all–more importantly, it doesn’t hinder his ability to speak.

Sai has a scar on his tongue, a remnant of Shikako’s attempts to remove the ROOT seal of secrecy.

* * *

Shikako has many secrets, some of which she shares and some of which she will keep beyond her last breath.

One of them is simply this: she did nothing to save Neji’s life.

Oh, she never put him in harms way, always had his back in battle–she treated him the way she treated all of her friends and allies. 

She would’ve died for him, if such a thing had been necessary, but she never went out of her way to save his life. Never warned him of his future, never even hinted at the possibility. 

She did nothing.

And yet, somehow, he still lives.

She doesn’t know if this is some kind of apology that only she’ll understand, belated and inexplicable as it may be. Doesn’t know if this is out of guilt or some sense of debt…

But she thinks: late though it may be, she should do something.

* * *

Lee remembers the first time he actively noticed Shikako–surrounded by carnage and flames, the bodies of her enemies lying at her feet.

It’s the kind of first impression that lingers, on which every interaction after that is influenced by.

No matter how approachable and helpful she is after that, Lee will always remember that at Shikako’s core is ruthlessness and efficiency.

* * *

It’s not as if Neji thinks Hinata will renege on her vow to change the Hyuuga clan–she is not that cruel, not like he used to be–nor does he think Hanabi, if she is to be head instead, will do the same.

But he thinks Hiashi-oji-sama must have once thought the same for his twin, for his twin’s son, and yet Neji still bears the brand.

He knows that the Main Family is more than just his uncle and his two cousins. The Hyuuga Clan is expansive, numbering in the hundreds.

While the Main Family is a small percentage of that, it is still a few dozen. A few dozen who can inflict pain or death on the Branch Family at whim.

The Hyuuga Clan Elders won’t let their elitism be taken away so easily.

Promises are nice, but actions are better.

* * *

Kakashi figured that if ever one of his students and Gai’s students got together it would be the end of the world. He was only a few months off, really.

Hm, is it too early to joke about that?

* * *

The aged scrolls Hanabi passed along to them have been much appreciated, necessary for Shikako’s endless notes working out different permutations and removal methods. But there is a time for theory and there is a time to put said theory into practice.

Neji removes his forehead protector, hands trembling minutely. Shikako takes a moment to marvel at how green the seal is, before berating herself.

She looks away, to give him the chance to compose himself, and when she looks back it’s to a Neji with closed eyes, sitting with resigned patience.

One way or another, this will end his world as he knows it.

Closed eyes doesn’t mean vulnerability for a Hyuuga, not truly, but she can appreciate the gesture for what it is.

Absolution. Faith. Trust.


	17. Friendship Is A (Mutual) Con

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> modern non-powered criminal!AU?

When asked, Nara stares blankly at them, silent and unimpressed, Uzumaki laughs, grin wide and sharp, while Uchiha closes his eyes as if their questions were of no concern.

Hatake is the only one that talks, but they almost wish he had kept his mouth shut instead.

After all, when trying to confirm the number of enemies, hearing a noncommittal answer is less than reassuring.

* * *

“There are only four Lucky Sevens,” one of the captors say, brash and absolutely wrong.

Kakashi smiles, pointedly–somehow still obvious through the mask they’ve oddly let him keep–enough that the man notices and stutters out, “A-aren’t there?”

“Well, if you say so, the other three must not be very lucky then.”

* * *

“Their comms have been destroyed,” Sai says bluntly, smile on his face; he once read that smiling could help soften bad news.

Yamato sighs, face palming, while Sakura barely resists doing the same–she’s only here to temporarily help the team, auxiliary member only, and yet…

Once this matter is cleared up, she promises to never complain about Anko-sensei’s choice of jobs again.

* * *

Their jailers are not so stupid as to keep them in the same cells, but that doesn’t make very much difference.

There’s a pipe running along the corner of Shikako’s cell, up and through the wall–she doesn’t have her gear with her, but demolition isn’t the goal right now.

The clinking of handcuffs against the pipe is answered with more clinking from beyond the wall.

* * *

Sakura is more used to following after Anko-sensei’s trail of destruction, her students near invisible in comparison, or enjoying the absolute silence of Yakumo’s technological illusions.

Just walking up and talking her way into a place is not a method she’s comfortable with, but it appears to be working.

“I’m Agent Tenzo, this is my partner Sai, and our trainee,” Yamato says with way more confidence than she’s ever seen from him, “we’re here to follow up on the explosion on the docks.”

* * *

Naruto’s restraints are over the top–elbow to fingertips behind his back–they see his muscles, the breadth of his shoulders, and think he’s the fighter on the team.

They are wrong.

He snickers, even as he curls up and tears at the hem of his trousers with his teeth, lock pick at the ready.

* * *

Yamato looks around, steadily getting more worried and angry at what he sees:

The flaming wreckage of crates and warped metal of shipping containers aren’t a surprise, but there are bullet casings littering the grounds like shiny deadly confetti.

Kakashi-senpai doesn’t use guns, and neither does his team.

* * *

Sasuke knocks his handcuffs against the pipe in a repetitive sequence, resigned to waiting for one of his teammates to get him.

Normally, he’d be all for fighting his way out, even with his hands tied behind his back, but normally he doesn’t have a gunshot wound sending spikes of pain with every breath.

Well, better him than his teammates.

* * *

The comms have been destroyed, but that doesn’t mean the secret hidden trackers have.

Of course, Sai’s not supposed to have trackers on the team–Naruto has explained it’s a violation of privacy or something irrelevant like that–but this just proves him right.

With Yamato-taichou distracted by the authorities and Sakura by the blood on the ground, Sai takes out his tablet and finds the rest of the team.

* * *

Kakashi contemplates the nature of life, twirling his set of handcuffs around one finger and waiting patiently.

He could just break out and go find his adorable students on his own, but he’s meant to be a teacher now and how will they learn if he does everything for them?

He waits another twelve minutes and is rewarded by the sounds of gangsters screaming.

* * *

The three of them get to the warehouse district in time to hear screaming and gunfire and, unsurprisingly, explosions.

The local authorities are trailing after them by a good ten minutes, nowhere near as fearless behind the wheel as Sai–though Yamato and Sakura would prefer if he had a little bit more fear, clutching at the oh shit handles with white-knuckled hands–so they have until then to clear out their wayward teammates and frame the gangsters.

No problem.


	18. Heathens Outside And Ready

Shikako is the first to leave.

Or perhaps it’s more accurate to say she never came back to begin with, walking from battlefield to traveler’s roads to places in need of exploration.

Warrior to wanderer, seamless.

* * *

First she is invited to Wind Country, as friend and scholar both, to research the remains of the Gelel Empire.

She is invited to a great many places after that–Snow Country, Land of Birds, Land of the Moon–retracing her own steps and the steps of civilizations long gone.

Alone, she wanders, aimless.

* * *

Sasuke is next–eagerly shaking off the limits and legacies from Konoha.

The tangled, dusty, and sticky cobwebs of the past brushed away to make way for the future, for a new Uchiha clan.

It’s time for Sasuke to follow his own path.

* * *

He catches up to her in the high stony mountains of Lightning Country, or maybe in the marshy lowlands in the Land of Tea, or perhaps its the small island of Wave atop the bridge bearing the name of their missing teammate.

Regardless, they are reunited, the hawk and the deer.

Paths are better when walked together.

* * *

Naruto is last, only because he spends so long resisting the call, trying to fit into a role never written for him.

Before, with Ero-sennin, traveling was training, was a mission, was an obstacle to overcome so that he could finally come back home to Konoha.

Except home isn’t Konoha, it never was: home is his friends.

* * *

He looks wan in the beginning, pale and tired, lifeless–that blazing spirit drained out of him in a way that war couldn’t dampen.

They wait for him in the ruins of Uzushio, a place as vibrant as the people it once was home to.

But it’s not theirs, a mere waypoint, a rest stop to revitalize and reconnect and ready themselves for the journey of their lives.

* * *

Kakashi enjoys a rare moment of calm, quiet solitude.

The Hokage’s hat is a heavier burden than he thought–certainly not one that he ever wanted–and it’s time to pass it down.

Sakura is more than capable, having spent the years learning at his shoulder; maybe Kakashi can join his other students for an adventure.


	19. Lies Beyond Morning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shikako versus ????

_Shikako blinks. Dark then light._

_Three kunai headed her way, she darts to the side._

_Where is she? What’s happening?_

_More kunai follow. Trace the flight path. Keep moving._

_Across the way is a smudge of color against the stark white room. Pink and brown and red. TenTen?_

_Ah, a spar, that makes sense._

_She should pay attention._

_TenTen isn’t saying anything, but that makes sense. Neither of them are particularly chatty._

_She unfurls a scroll–a serious spar then._

_“Earth Style: Earth Wall!” she calls out, chakra flaring, but nothing happens. The strange smooth floor is unchanged._

_Where are they? Something is happening._

_Shikako makes the sign for a timeout, but TenTen keeps going. She tries again with a forfeit sign, “Stop!”_

_That fails, too._

_TenTen releases her armory, Shikako drops her resistance seals and runs._

_Something is wrong._

_They aren’t sparring, they’re fighting._

_To the death, apparently._

_—_

_Shikako wins. TenTen loses._

_Which means TenTen dies._

_Except._

_Something is happening._

_Shikako rushes over because, despite the fight, they are friends and she is so confused. In her arms, TenTen–still so strangely silent–begins to disintegrate._

_“I didn’t mean to,” she says as particles of TenTen fade away into the expanse of the room, “I don’t understand.”_

_Before the body disappears completely, Shikako has one last thought:_

_Something is wrong._

_—_

_Shikako blinks. Dark then light._

_She’s on her knees in an impossible room, so empty and endless._

_What was she doing?_

_There is a noise, like gears in a machine, and a doorway opens in front of her. Stairs._

_There’s nothing for her here, and so she leaves._

_Behind her, that same noise, the impossible room seals itself shut. Gone to the void like it never existed._

_Upwards, onwards._

_The stairs are smooth, white, surrounded by a void. They spiral up and up, unconnected steps of not stone and not metal._

_A few more steps and the stairs just stop, nothing ahead but more darkness._

_She extends a hand forward, meets resistance, and a noise like gears in a machine opens a doorway in front of her._

_Another impossible room._

_She looks back, there’s nothing there._

_She goes in._

_—_

_Shikako blinks. Dark then light._

_Dodges out of the way of a chakra covered hand aimed at her heart._

_“Neji?” She asks, startled, bewildered._

_He doesn’t answer, but the silence makes sense. He isn’t particularly talkative._

_But what is going on?_

_That was definitely a killing blow._

_Of course he’d want to kill her, she thinks, she did just kill ~~[||||||||||||||]~~ …_

_… what was she doing?_

_He makes another move–no doubt as lethal as the last–and somehow Shikako knows better than to try and reason with him._

_Taijutsu is out of the question, she would surely lose (would surely die?) but she’s always been better at a distance._

_—_

_This time (was there any other time?) Shikako watches silently as Neji dissipates. In comparison to the room, even his white clothes and pale skin stand out, the black of his hair a long tail of defiance._

_Even then, the room wins out. And she watches in mute horror as he fades away._

_Something is wrong._

_She feels like she had that thought before._

_—_

_Shikako blinks. Dark then light._

_A noise. Then a doorway. Then a curving set of stairs._

_Upwards, onwards. There is nothing for her here._

_The stairs are continuous, spiraling for eternity. If she looks up, she can see the helix continue._

_But if she looks ahead, there are only a few steps in front of her. A new one being added for each one she advances._

_What a strange place. How did she get here?_

_The stairs come to a halt, impossibly, nothing in front of her._

_And yet._

_She reaches out. A noise. Then a doorway. Then an impossible room._

_—_

_Shikako blinks. Dark then light._

_She knows immediately that the creature in front of her is not Lee. Oh it looks like him, its green and orange outfit almost blinding in this stark emptiness, but it is not him._

_Never mind that it is trying to kick her head off her shoulders, clearly trying to kill her. She knows this is not him because its face is blank and empty._

_If this were a spar, Lee would be smiling. If this were a death match, he would be angry._

_The real Lee would be furious at her for killing ~~[|||||||]~~  and  ~~[||||||||||||||]~~ …_

_… why does she think Lee should be angry at her?_

_No matter. This obviously isn’t Lee, which means that she has nothing stopping her from going all out._

_It is faster than her, like the real Lee, but she has a few tricks up her sleeve still._

_—_

_She doesn’t feel remorse as this not-Lee creature fades away. Particles and pigments disappearing as if it were never there._

_If it were really him, then she would. She would be sick and horrified at herself._

_But it is not him, she is sure of it._

_Something is happening._

_A certainty that has been building ever since she fought ~~[||||||||||||||]~~  and  ~~[|||||||]~~ , cemented further after her fight with  ~~[||||||]~~ …_

_… something is wrong._

_—_

_Shikako blinks. Dark then light._

_A doorway is open ahead of her, an impossible exit from an impossible space. Stairs leading upwards and onwards._

_She stays put._

_“I don’t understand,” she says, looking around, “This doesn’t make sense.”_

_Nothing changes._

_“What’s happening?” she asks, instead._

_Nothing changes._

_Shikako blinks. Dark then light._

_A doorway is open ahead of her, an impossible exit from an impossible place. Stairs leading upwards and onwards._

_She leaves the room._

_There is nothing here._

_—_

_After an uncountable number of stairs, steps spiraling for an eternity upwards and yet never complete ahead of her, Shikako stops._

_The steps appearing for every one she advances also stop._

_“No,” she says._

_“Something is wrong,” she says._

_She stays put._

_—_

_Shikako blinks. Dark then light._

_She is on a set of stairs, smooth and pale and impossible like starlight. They spiral upwards and onwards in the void._

_On the step in front of her is a little ink bird, black like defiance._

_It hops about and flutters its wings but doesn’t make a noise._

_She picks it up and sets it on her shoulder._

_She begins climbing the stairs until she can no longer, the steps ending at an invisible wall._

_She reaches out, meeting resistance, before a noise like gears in a machine sounds off._

_A doorway opens._

_Shikako walks through._

_—_

_In this room empty of anything, with smooth floors that are not stone and stark walls she cannot perceive, only Shikako and the ink bird exist._

_No matter how far she walks, there is no end. An impossible room._

_Shikako blinks. Dark then light._

_Immediately rolls out of the way of a swarm of tiny creatures._

_The ink bird remains on her shoulder, but it tugs on her hair, impatiently. Frantic._

_Scared?_

_Something is wrong._

_Across the room is Shino. Or a creature that looks like Shino. It hasn’t moved and it hasn’t spoken and maybe that isn’t unlike the real Shino, but she learned her lesson with ~~[||||||]~~ …_

_… the swarm attacks her again, and she backs away, confused._

_The swarm of creatures, dark against the starkness of the room, somehow feel strange. Wrong._

_They are not like her ink bird, a different sort of defiance. They are not like real kikaichu either._

_These aren’t kikaichu and that isn’t Shino._

_Which means she won’t feel guilty when she destroys them all._

_—_

_The room is immaculate despite the battle._

_The creatures that were not Shino and his kikaichu disappear, as if they never existed._

_The ink bird on her shoulder remains. Now that she has the time and space to give it attention, it has stopped its antics._

_Shikako blinks. Dark then light._

_A black blur whizzes past her face. Reflexively, she ducks to the side, but nothing follows._

_Bizarrely, it didn’t come from behind her, it came from her shoulder._

_An ink bird flies ahead of her, a single point of defiance in this impossible room._

_It flutters its wings and hops about, as if waiting, impatiently._

_A noise. A doorway. Stairs._

_The bird flies ahead, upwards and onwards._

_Shikako follows._

_—_

_Upwards and onwards, Shikako follows the bird. Against the void, it is difficult to see, but there is only one direction for it to go._

_After an eternity it stops, landing on a step made of starlight. Waiting impatiently._

_When she reaches the top step, it flutters to her shoulder._

_Together they watch as a doorway appears._

_Together they walk through._

_—_

_Shikako blinks. Dark then light._

_The chakra covered hand aimed at her heart almost seems familiar. As does the movement to get out of the way._

_A creature that looks like Hinata stares at her blankly, before moving to attack once more._

_If it were really Hinata, Shikako would hesitate._

_If it were really Hinata, they wouldn’t be fighting._

_The ink bird on her shoulder tugs at her hair._

_But none of them (none of who?) were really themselves._

_In comparison to ~~[||||||]~~ …_

_… no matter._

_This creature that is not Hinata is trying to kill her._

_There is no hesitation._

_—_

_It is not Hinata, but Shikako still looks away as it dies silently._

_Something is wrong._

_She does not feel horror, nor remorse, but there is still a sense of familiarity._

_Of exhaustion._

_Shikako blinks. Dark then light._

_She cannot remember how long she has been in this room, but it feels like a very long time._

_A noise. A doorway. Stairs._

_The ink bird on her shoulder flies ahead and she follows._

_There is nothing good for her here._

_—_

_The stairs are a helix continuing upwards and onwards._

_Even with the little ink bird, it feels as if she is alone. A small, insignificant existence against the impossibility of this place._

_Void and starlight and a spiral to eternity._

_Where is she? How did she get here?_

_Something is happening._

_What is happening?_

_Something wrong._

_—_

_At the last step, the ink bird stops and waits for her._

_It hops and flutters and, when she catches up, flies to perch on her shoulder._

_A noise. A doorway. An impossible room._

_She doesn’t enter._

_The ink bird tugs at her hair._

_As she steps through, she thinks:_

_Haven’t I done this before?_

_—_

_Next (after what?) is Kiba. Or not-Kiba as the case may be._

_“You’ve gotten shoddy,” Shikako says to the creature that is not Kiba, as it swipes a clawed hand at her face._

_“Where is Akamaru?” she asks, dodging and weaving away._

_The ink bird on her shoulder tugs at her hair. Impatient and frantic and not-scared._

_Probably._

_If it were scared, it would fly away, wouldn’t it?_

_“You’re not even trying!” Shikako shouts at it. Something is wrong._

_“You don’t even know how an Inuzuka fights!”_

_Without their ninken, Inuzuka are half of themselves. It’s part of the reason why they can’t be ANBU, too loyal and honest to a fault._

_The creature that is not Kiba stops._

_So does she._

_A noise, like gears in a machine, and a doorway opens behind it._

_The ink bird leaves her shoulder and flies past the not-Kiba creature. It remains still._

_Shikako circles around it, confused, but follows after the ink bird to the stairs._

_As she begins to climb, she looks back._

_The doorway is closing, but she can still see the not-Kiba creature standing perfectly still in that impossible room._

_—_

_“That’s not how that usually goes,” she calls ahead to the ink bird._

_It stops and lands on a step, waiting for her to catch up._

_“The other fights. Before not-Kiba. The ones I had with ~~[|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||]~~ …_

_”… why did that happen? I remember Kiba. Because I didn’t kill the creature that looked like him?“_

_The ink bird hops and flutters._

_“Why can’t you be more useful?” she shouts._

_Shikako blinks. Dark then light._

_She is on starlight stairs in an eternal void._

_She is not alone._

_“Sai?”_

* * *

* * *

_“Sai?”_

_Shikako looks around, the two of them standing on impossible stairs. Smooth not-stone not-metal steps._

_Starlight against the void of space._

_“What is happening?” she asks him, reaching out._

_For some reason, she feels alone. She wants to confirm she isn’t._

_But Sai steps back, away, silent. Shakes his head._

_He gives her a smile, one far more emotionally eloquent than he’s usually capable:_

_A little apologetic, a lot sad._

_He climbs the stairs and waves at her. Upwards and onwards, he doesn’t say._

_She follows._

_—_

_“You’re not Sai,” Shikako says, as they climb impossible starlight stairs._

_“But you’re not like that not-Kiba,” she continues._

_She doesn’t know where she is, or what is going on, but she’s exhausted._

_She feels like she’s been here for a long time. An eternity._

_Maybe she’s gone mad, maybe this is her breaking point._

_“This isn’t real.”_

_The not-Sai ahead of her stops, looks at her. Shakes his head._

_Confirmation or denial, and for which statement, she’s not sure. Doesn’t have the time to ask._

_A noise, like gears in a machine, and a doorway opens in front of them._

_—_

_A stark white room that goes on forever. Smooth floor neither stone or metal, and walls she can never reach._

_Not-Sai’s dark hair and dark clothes stand out defiant, even his pale skin somehow contrasting._

_He stands behind her, even as she walks as far as she can, forever._

_Silence spreads._

_Something is wrong._

_—_

_Shikako blinks. Dark then light._

_Across the room, a riot of color. Pink and green and red and black._

_Sakura. Not-Sakura._

_Not the Sakura she’s come to know._

_Pink hair cropped short, armored gloves but no medic’s uniform._

_This is the Sakura she replaced._

_But this creature with Sakura’s face doesn’t move, doesn’t attack._

_Shikako steps forward. Not-Sai behind her._

_Something is happening._

_This is… different._

_“Sakura?” she calls out, but the creature does not respond._

_Behind her, the not-Sai figure stands his ground._

_Silence._

_Where is the doorway?_

_—_

_Maybe this is different for a reason._

_Maybe there’s a reason why not-Sakura isn’t attacking her._

_Not-Kiba did so immediately, as well as the previous encounters against ~~[|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||]~~ …_

_… something was wrong, then._

_Which means it is not wrong now?_

_“Come with us,” she tries, reaching out to touch not-Sakura, but stopping short of contact._

_The creature’s face remains blank and empty._

_A part of her is afraid. That as soon as she touches not-Sakura, it will spring to life, try to kill her._

_And she will have to kill it instead. Just like ~~[||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||]~~ …_

_… Shikako is exhausted._

_She doesn’t want to fight anymore._

_—_

_“Please,” she tries again, and this time commits, hand curving around not-Sakura’s arm._

_Beneath her fingers, the creature is neither warm nor cold. As lifeless and empty as the room around them._

_Not-Sakura doesn’t move._

_But a noise sounds off, the only other noise here besides her own voice, and the doorway appears._

_Not-Sai leaves his position and walks to the doorway, starlight stairs already assembling._

_On the first step, upwards and onwards, he stops and waves toward her._

_“Please, Sakura, come with us!” she tries one last time, tugging, futilely, as if against a statue._

_A noise, like gears in a machine._

_Something is wrong._

_On the other side of the closing doorway, not-Sai waves at her impatiently, frantic._

_Scared._

_There is nothing for her here._

_Shikako runs._

_—_

_On starlight stairs in an endless void, Shikako stands._

_Breathless._

_Exhausted._

_Crying._

_A few steps ahead, not-Sai watches. Sad and apologetic._

_—_

_Shikako blinks. Dark then light._

_Something is happening._

_Her cheeks are wet, and she wipes the moisture away. Droplets falling into eternity._

_She moves. Upwards and onwards, there is only one way to go._

_Not-Sai watches her. Stopped ahead, waiting. Sad and apologetic for some reason._

_She catches up. Then keeps going._

_Not-Sai follows silently behind her._

_—_

_On the top step, before the invisible wall and the noise and the doorway, Shikako turns to not-Sai._

_“It’s going to be worse, isn’t it?” she asks, already dreading it._

_Not-Sai nods, confirmation, ever sad and apologetic._

_“Why can’t you speak?” she asks. Perhaps, if she were not so exhausted, she would be angry._

_But she has been here for an eternity, and she just wants to hear something besides her own voice and that–_

_Not-Sai sticks his tongue out, black ink on pink flesh_

_–noise, like gears in a machine._

_The doorway appears._

_—_

_This is different._

_The room is the same–an impossibility of stark endless white–but inside, immediately, it is not empty._

_Across the room, like colorful statues, are three unmoving silent figures._

_Ino-Shika-Cho_

_But not hers. Just like the not-Sakura from before wasn’t hers._

_The creature that is not Chouji stands, hands over its ears, face blank and empty._

_Not-Ino stands next to it, hands over its mouth, eyes a solid intact blue._

_Between them is her brother. Or, rather, the creature that is not her brother, eyes covered by two hands._

_This Ino-Shika-Cho is not hers, because hers are broken._

_She was the one who broke them._

_—_

_Shikako blinks. Dark then light._

_Nothing has changed._

_She tries again. Dark then light._

_Still no change._

_She doesn’t want to do this._

_She turns around to where not-Sai stands behind her. Surely because he followed her in, the doorway would still be there._

_But behind him is an endless expanse, no stairs spiraling down and away._

_No escape. There is only one way to go._

_She’s exhausted._

_Something is wrong._

_“What do I do now?”_

_That something might be her._

* * *

* * *

_Something is wrong._

_Shikako blinks. Dark then light._

_Across the room stand three creatures, so colorful and defiant against the stark impossible room._

_She doesn’t want to approach them._

_They do not move and do not speak._

_She doesn’t want to break them._

_“What do I do now?” she asks, though she knows the not-Sai creature will not say anything._

_He only smiles at her, sad and apologetic._

_“Upwards and onwards,” she says, walking forward._

_There is only one way to go._

_If she has to spend an eternity in this strange place, she will not spend it waiting for nothing to happen._

_—_

_She comes to a stop in front the three familiar creatures, not-Sai following behind her._

_“I’m sorry,” she says to the creature that is not Ino, reaching out for its hands. The creature is neither warm nor cold, lifeless and empty like the room around them._

_But as she pulls at its hands, its arms move. No longer is not-Ino covering its mouth._

_Shikako blinks. Dark then light._

_Something has changed._

_In not-Ino’s eyes pale blue eyes are a matching set of thin slit pupils._

_—_

_She steps sideways, in front of the creature that is not her brother. Here, she hesitates._

_Under her fingers, not-Shikamaru is lifeless and empty, neither warm nor cold. But at least he’s whole._

_She doesn’t want to break him again._

_Sensing her hesitation, not-Sai moves, walks around these fake Ino-Shika-Cho and stands opposite from her._

_Sad and apologetic, he no longer smiles._

_She pulls at not-Shikamaru’s hands, its arms moves. Not-Sai nods, silent._

_No longer is the creature covering its eyes._

_“I’m sorry,” she says, turning away, tears forming in her eyes._

_Shikako blinks. Dark then light._

_Her cheeks are wet._

_There is only one hand in her own._

_—_

_Another step to the side, and not-Sai follows, an inky reflection defiant against the stark white room._

_Between them stands not-Chouji, hands over its ears, face blank and empty and lifeless._

_Nothing like the real Chouji._

_She hasn’t broken him._

_Not yet, anyway._

_There is only one way to go. Upwards and onwards._

_She takes its hands in hers and pulls until it is no longer covering its ears._

_Shikako blinks. Dark then light._

_Nothing changes._

_—_

_The silence spreads._

_“I don’t understand,” she says, looking around._

_There is nothing here. Not-Sai watches her, waiting._

_“What do I do now?”_

_—_

_“Upwards and onwards,” a voice says._

_Startled, Shikako springs away._

_In this strange eternal place, there are only two sounds: the noise, like gears in a machine, and her own voice._

_Something is happening._

_“What?” she asks, glancing around. The fake Ino-Shika-Cho have not moved._

_Neither has not-Sai, who stands and waits, watching._

_This is different._

_“Fight,” says not Chouji. But not the not-Chouji that is silent and lifeless and empty._

_“Who–?” –are you–do I fight–have I forgotten–is doing this to me–_

_“That old fool,” the not-not-Chouji voice says, sad and apologetic._

_“Fight,” it continues, as a noise, like gears in a machine, sounds off._

_The doorway appears, and not-Sai walks toward it, waving her forward._

_She follows. She remembers what happened in the room with not-Sakura._

_But on that first starlight step, she looks back._

_Ino-Shika-Cho, unmoving, broken._

_“Upwards and onwards,” the voice finishes, as the doorway seals itself shut, impossible room lost to the eternal void._

_—_

_Shikako blinks. Dark then light._

_Not-Sai walks ahead of her on stairs neither stone nor metal._

_Something is happening. Something is wrong._

_But it’s not her._

_Above her the helix spirals forever, but in front they appear only a few steps ahead._

_Starlight and the endless void of space._

_Colorless, lifeless, silent._

_It’s different, and yet…_

_“I’ve already been here,” she says out loud._

_“This has happened to me before.”_

_Or near enough._

_At the top step, not-Sai waits for her, sad and apologetic smile on his face._

_“I understand,” she says out loud._

_Not-Sai looks at her, startled._

_“You’re not Sai,” she continues, catching up._

_“You’re his brother.”_

_—_

_In front of her is an invisible wall where a doorway will appear. Beside her is a ghost._

_Not-Sai… Sai’s brother fades, image changing as he does. Instead of the familiar ink dark features, she sees dimming starlight and a smile that is no longer sad or apologetic._

_“Thank you,” she says as he dissipates, “Thank you for helping me this far.”_

_Sai’s brother nods, as kind in death as he must have been in life._

_A noise, like gears in a machine._

_Shikako blinks. Dark then light._

_The doorway appears as well as the last impossible room._

_—_

_She is not surprised by what she sees, the worst of it yet._

_A tableau of her nightmares meant to break her and stop her and keep her trapped._

_Across the room are two figures, frozen in time: mid battle, mid death blow._

_Sasuke as he might have been, Curse Seal fully bloomed across his skin._

_Naruto partially transformed, caustic red chakra cloaked around him._

_Chidori against Rasengan._

_These are not her teammates._

_She walks toward them, neither move, as empty and lifeless as the room._

_The corruption of natural chakra should claw at her skin, should burn in her lungs, but it does not._

_Because none of this is real._

_These empty creatures, this strange place. Impossible starlight and eternal voids. Ink and color like defiance._

_Something is wrong._

_Just not here. There is nothing for her here and so there is nothing here to be wrong._

_Something is happening._

_Out in the real world._

_“Kotoamatsukami”_

_—_

Shikako blinks. Light then dark.


	20. Fire Fallow Cultivation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tsunade, Konoha, and legacies

In the early morning hours as the sun begins to lighten, dawn slowly crawling into the sky, she sits on the veranda and breathes. Morning dew glistening on the grass, bird song filtering from the treetops.

For a few moments she can imagine that she is a child once more, those simpler happier times. When the house was fuller than just her and Shizune and the ever present ANBU guards, when the silence would be broken by the sounds of her family beginning to awaken.

Instead stands a copse of trees, the youngest nearly two decades old–for her cousin, Kohari–the next youngest after that for Nawaki.

Hers will be the last tree planted here. The end of a tradition, the end of a clan.

For a few moments, Tsunade drinks her tea and imagines.

* * *

Of the Lucky Seven brats–Hatake included–it’s obvious that the Uchiha brat is the least troublesome. She loves Naruto, and it’s not just professionalism that has her keep bringing Kakashi and Shikako back from their stupidly persistent death wishes, but Sasuke is the least problematic and she’s not ungrateful for that.

Of course, he still is a Lucky Seven brat: least troublesome does not mean not troublesome whatsoever.

“It’s a routine patrol,” she says to the impassive ceramic face of ANBU Hawk, “it’s been run every day for decades! Probably since Konoha itself was founded!”

Still, ANBU Hawk’s face does not change. His posture, though, slouches just that tiniest bit.

She softens her tone, “Better for it to be discovered than not, of course, I just don’t know how this could have stayed hidden for so long.”

Neither of them mention the Sharingan. The whole point of ANBU Hawk is anonymity.

Before, Uchiha in ANBU were sent out immediately on ops. An Uchiha on a routine ANBU patrol would have been inefficient, underutilizing their abilities… or so Danzo would have said.

If there are any hidden caches and tunnels that only a Sharingan can see around the Hokage’s residence…

“Bodyguard duty for you,” Tsunade says, and tries to make it sound like punishment.

* * *

Seeing her face on the mountain–alongside her grandfather’s, her granduncle’s, her sensei’s, and that Namikaze brat’s–she thinks about legacies. About responsibilities and inheritances and the cloying, clawing threads that tie her down.

Konoha was her home. Konoha was her hell. Konoha is in her blood, in her heart, in her bones. In every word she speaks and every person she heals and every desk she shatters under her fist. All the paperwork blurring beneath her eyes, every face that looks up to her, every building every weapon every tree.

She is Hokage, she is Senju, she is Konoha.

Konoha was not just one clan’s dream, Konoha is not just one clan’s inheritance.

* * *

Shizune adjusts to living in the village easily enough, but Shizune has always been adaptive. It helped on the road, when Tsunade was more drunkard than mentor, and it helps now when Tsunade has to allocate more and more of the hospital’s running to her first apprentice.

First apprentice. How strange to think of Shizune that way when she is more than that–her confidante, her friend, practically her niece–and yet it’s not inaccurate.

Tsunade never thought she’d have a second apprentice, but there’s something about that Haruno girl. Potential, yes, but a joy and love for life that she can barely remember having herself.

She certainly never thought she’d have third one, and not even for medicine at that, but the Uchiha brat has an eye for administration. She’s not just talking about his Sharingan, either, though that certainly helps with the paperwork.

Tsunade was raised to be head of a waning clan, groomed for the position, no matter how futile it turned out to be. Sasuke never had that.

He was the spare, the youngest. A child with a hyper-competent older brother, a fully functioning clan, an entire infrastructure that had no need for him.

And yet.

There is no formal invitation. She does not leave confidential information lying around, though it’s not as if there’s much of a Senju clan to manage anyway.

But if she voices her decision making processes out loud more often. If she’s become observant of customs long set aside. If she has two cups of tea prepared for the early morning hours, well.

Everyone adapts eventually.

* * *

In the backyard of the Hokage’s residence is a copse of trees, a holdover from a past era.

She remembers digging for every single tree: scoops of soil in clumsy toddler hands, crescents of dirt beneath her nails as she clutched her newly orphaned brother close.

Trying so hard not to cry on Nawaki’s because it would devastate her if his tree withered from salt. (Dan should have a tree. A few months more, maybe, but she’s done with pleading for an impossibility).

She came back long enough to plant Kohari’s tree (and regret that she didn’t know what the Uzumaki traditions were) and leave with Shizune in tow.

It might be blasphemous, might enrage all of her Senju ancestors, but what does she care what a bunch of dead people think? If she wants to have an Uchiha plant her tree, well, who is going to stop her?

She’s the last of her clan; she wants someone who will remember her as such.


	21. Painted Red (To Fit Right In)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The world ends with zombies

Naruto looks at her, head tilted to the side. He’s not smiling, but his face is still a comfort nonetheless–things went to shit when he was gone, and she knows his presence doesn’t automatically mean things will get better, but it’s a gut feeling, a visceral reaction. Naruto is here, he’ll do his best to keep all of them safe.

Optimism for the end of the world.

“Well, what do you want to do?”

* * *

She didn’t think much of it, at first.

Hostilities between the villages had already been increasing, war councils and updated procedures already in place. Fast tracked promotions, and greater interest in an otherwise dying science.

A buffer nation being attacked would cause concern even without totality of the destruction, the mystery of the circumstances.

She thought it was a logical progression of international tension; she thought it was natural.

It could not be further from that.

* * *

Sasuke had been on bodyguard duty when things finally came to a head.

Without a Hokage, there’s no one to hold him to that.

Without a Hokage, there’s no one to to relieve him of it, either, he’d argue.

“Don’t worry about me,” he would add, even in the early days when she was more dead weight than help, life energy pulled out of her and slow to replenish. He was taking double watches, kept running perimeters, running himself ragged.

It was just the two of them, then, surrounded by the shades of what used to be home.

* * *

In her old world, there had been plenty of media surrounding the idea:

The end of the world. The fall out of a major disaster. Post-apocalyptic survivors trying to scrape out an existence.

She believed, maybe, in her most paranoid yet fanciful imaginings, that it would be Edo Tensei. She knew that there was a very real possibility that zombies could happen because they had already happened, there was a technique to make them happen. It was why she had squirreled away notes on it, why she kept at her fuinjutsu studies–driven less by her original wonder, and more by a preparatory fear.

She was right about the what.

She was wrong about the how.

* * *

They are in Sora-ku when Kakashi-sensei finds them, along with a horde of mindlessly aggressive ex black marketeers.

It’s not as if they’re particularly hard to fight–nothing on the caliber of the reavers made from shinobi stock–but despite the seeming abandoned state of the city, there are many of them. Empty skyscrapers a good place to hide a community of smugglers and criminals, like maggots infesting the corpse of a fallen animal.

For a second, she thinks Kakashi is one, too. Stops a beat too long and nearly gets bitten for it, but his movements aren’t jerky and uncontrolled–somehow, impossibly, he’s still himself.

“I was just in the neighborhood,” he’ll say with a shrug, as if he weren’t sent to the frontline and unheard from for months. As if they weren’t miles out of the way from Konoha.

He doesn’t hug them back, but he doesn’t eel out of it, either.

* * *

She shut the gate, hijacked the ritual, blew up the foundation.

Jashin could not enter. Could not come to their world and consume it in its entirety the way the cultists had planned.

But that doesn’t mean nothing had come through.

Aggression and suffering and pain. Bloodlust threading through the air of an already highly militaristic society.

There wasn’t so much another world war as it was a world riot, a rampage.

She was immune _(hello little god)_ because she had been at ground zero, she had been the last sacrifice, she had been the key.

Only inside her own mind does she think maybe a quick destruction would have been better than this.


	22. Don't Hold Back

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Team Seven sleuthing shenanigans

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> since I doubt I'll be continuing with this "series," I've decided to add it here belatedly

They were practically legends, despite their age. The Lucky Sevens’ infamy turning into something more like mythos, like the Sannin in their youth except, somehow, more. More faith, more impossibilities, more potential: the three Sages of Konoha–Uzumaki, Uchiha, and Nara; Toad, Hawk, and Deer.

Of course, to each other, they’re still just the same dorky kids who turned training into games and despite all efforts still had no idea what was under their sensei’s mask.

Which meant that, when Shikako–normally so unflappable–opted out of team Ichiraku that night, then started blushing when they asked why, it was like waving a red flag in front of a bull. Or a face mask in front of a group of curious teenagers.

Of course Naruto and Sasuke were going to snoop around.

Unfortunately for them, Shikako was much better at sneaking around than either of them.

Which meant they would need reinforcements.

—

Kakashi-sensei, being overly fond of messing with his cute little genin (despite none of them being genin anymore, or little) was all for joining them. But, being the Rokudaime Hokage in charge of the entire village, that meant that he couldn’t.

“But shouldn’t a Hokage be invested in the people of Konoha?” He asked, almost coyly, eyes curved in an unmistakeable smile.

“No,” Iruka-sensei responded implacably, setting yet another stack of scrolls on the desk.

And that was that.

—

Their next recruitment was a lot more successful. Not enthusiastically so, but that word never really could be applied to Shikamaru, even if it did have to do with his twin sister.

“And you’re sure it’s not anything official?” Shikamaru asked, just to confirm. It wouldn’t be the first time Team Seven dragged him into something which the paperwork ninja spoke of in horrified whispers.

“She said no to ramen! And she was blushing!” Naruto answered, in a rather unhelpful manner.

A quirk of Shikamaru’s eyebrow had Sasuke clarifying, “It was pretty unusual. She wouldn’t say what she was doing instead, just that she had already made plans with someone else.”

“Hm,” Shikamaru pondered, hands curved into his meditative gesture, “We’ll need someone with more intel.”

“Your dad?” Naruto asked, both thrilled and intimidated at asking the elder Nara for help.

“No way,” Shikamaru snorted, “We’ll need Ino.”

—

Given the fact that Ino is Shikako’s best friend, it stood to reason that she would know exactly what was going on with Shikako.

Then again, given that same fact, it also made sense that Ino wouldn’t share that information without Shikako’s consent. Even to her brother and teammates.

In this case, especially to her brother and teammates.

With a series very unsubtle facial and hand movements, Sasuke was convinced to use his charms on Ino to get her to talk.

She just laughed right in their faces.

“Oh, Sasuke-kun, you will always have a place in my heart,” she said, before patting his cheek the way one would a small child or a beloved pet, “But you really are not cut out for seduction missions.

"Although–just because I know it’ll be hilarious to see what you dumb boys do–I’ll tell you this,” she said, smile bright and devious, “It’s not a matter of what Shikako is doing, but rather a who.”

“What?” Naruto asked, confused.

“What.” Sasuke said, flatly.

“WHO?” Shikamaru practically seethed.

Instead of answering, Ino just laughed again, tossing her blonde hair and relishing in the triumph of knowing something someone else doesn’t.

* * *

* * *

 

Given Shikako has literally received a promotion due to her sensing ability, and seeing as how Shikamaru, Naruto, and Sasuke have the three chakra signatures most familiar to her, it would be ridiculously stupid for them to try to use stealth and follow her. Which is why they outsource it.

Or… try to. Team Ebisu and Team Hana are not making it easy.

“Okay, Boss,” Konohamaru says, entirely cooperative, “but you know we’re not gonna do this for free.”

Naruto looks at him, stunned.

“We’re officially shinobi of Konoha,” Moegi explains, only a little smugly, “And what you’re describing sounds an awful lot like a mission.”

“What?” Naruto bursts out, “You cheapskates!”

“It’s probably a D-rank, maybe a C-rank at most,” Hanabi says with a pointed glance at Sasuke, “It’s not like you can’t afford it.”

Admittedly, Sasuke is disgustingly rich even without all of the pay he’s received from near constant patrols interspersed with A-ranks and S-ranks. So it’s true that alone he could pay for two C-ranks easily.

Doesn’t mean he wants to give them the satisfaction.

“Extortionists. You’re already going to train with her today,” Sasuke grumbles.

“We just know what we’re worth,” Ranmaru says, pleased.

“Just pay them,” Shikamaru mutters, jabbing his elbow into Sasuke’s ribs, “Unless you don’t want to know you Shikako’s dating.” As if Shikamaru himself weren’t the most invested in finding out who his sister is involved with.

“Fine, but Naruto’s paying the other team,” because there are only two teenagers with more A-ranks and S-ranks than Sasuke, and both of them are his teammates.

“That’s okay,” Naruto agrees affably, “I had some down time during a mission in Tanzaku Gai two weeks ago.”

Unfortunately, Naruto’s good luck does not extend to the two genin teams. Or maybe it does, because their self-styled mission–and their pay–extends beyond one day.

It takes a month.

And mostly? They figure it out via a giant process of elimination.


	23. Hiding and Seeking

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Canon Divergence!AU Sensory Squad shenanigans with Hana, Neji, and Shikako

What a mess they must look like, the three of them standing around awkwardly, uncertain. Well, perhaps not Neji–Hyuuga’s don’t really do awkward so much as displeased, perhaps the heiress is closest but even that’s more shy than ungainly–but she and Shikako definitely carry his share.

Zou, bored, head butts her thigh, and Hana shakes herself out of it. She’s going to be a jounin, she can’t be deterred by such a minor thing.

As if sensing Hana’s resolve, Shikako’s posture straightens out as well, the three of them now standing less like a group of children told to play nice together and more like a proper team.

“We’re a little too familiar with each other to need introductions,” Hana starts, “but we don’t exactly know how each other works, and I know better than to suggest sparring.”

Against the Hyuuga prodigy, there’s exactly one way a taijutsu-only spar would work. But given the scale of Shikako’s other abilities and Hana’s own Haimaru-bolstered attacks, there’s no other option that wouldn’t end up someone hospitalized. Which isn’t exactly the best way to get the Jounin Commander’s attention–good attention, anyway.

“What are you suggesting then?” Neji asks, almost bracing himself. Well, his jounin-sensei was Gai, he’s probably had to deal with a lot of non-sparring exercises.

Hana smiles, all teeth, and brings out a bright red ball. She can feel the slight breeze of Mitaru’s tail wagging, can hear the way Sanji shifts onto all fours.

“Let’s play a game.”

—

For most people, the Haimaru Brothers are identical. And, well, that’s not exactly a surprise–they are from the same litter, after all, and most people don’t have the benefit of a Inuzuka’s keen sense of smell. Even then, sometimes Hana’s mum gets them mixed up, though usually she’ll cover that up by picking up two by the scruff of their necks and having Kuromaru pick up the third just to remind them that in comparison to the Alphas, they are still just puppies. Kiba and Akamaru don’t particularly care about differentiating them, they just start annoying whichever one is closest.

But the Haimaru Brothers have been Hana’s partners for years: she raised them since they were actually puppies, and named them all. (Granted, she was four at the time and not terribly prepared for the responsibility, so it’s no surprise that they ended up with the names they did.)

Mitaru is the excitable one, easily distracted, but the best sniffer because of it. Sanji is an old soul in a young body, calm and logical and, if she’s going to be honest, kind of lazy. Oh, he won’t shirk his duties, but he’s definitely the kind of dog who would rather lounge in a sunbeam than run around in the grass. Zou is the most aggressive, usually the one who joins a fight first, and the one who gets into the most trouble with Kuromaru and mum.

(Yes, they’re all named three.)

Some of their personalities are reflected in their bodies: Zou has a bulkier front to better support his attacks. Mitaru is leaner, faster than his brothers, constantly moving around. Sanji… could probably stand to lose a few pounds, but his fur is always the neatest so at least there’s that. But those are all such minute differences that to even the Byakugan the Haimaru brothers look identical. She’s not sure how they fare chakra-wise, but most chakra sensors’ focus on differences in human chakra signatures, not animals.

So for her new team’s introductory exercise, they’re going to play a game called Three Dog Monte.

—

If ever Hana had doubts about the rumors surrounding Shikako’s tendency for strange missions, they would be soundly corrected after they receive their first mission.

“Catching Tora the cat?” Shikako asks incredulously. Beside her, Neji not so stealthily shudders–ah, even prodigies hate that cat.

Her partners growl at the name, but settle down easily enough with quick pats to the head.

“That’s D-rank,” Neji says, with a tone less scornful and almost hopeful, “Shouldn’t a genin team be doing this?”

Hana sighs, she had the same reaction, “Normally, yes,” she says, because she is team captain and she can’t complain about missions–that’d be setting a poor example, “Except normally Tora the cat isn’t in the Forest of Death.”

Shikako flinches, laughs nervously to cover it up and says, unconvincingly, “Ah, yeah. Fond memories about that place.”

Neji actually turns his head to look at her, which is the Hyuuga equivalent of staring open-mouthed in astonishment.

It’s definitely a reference to the Chuunin Exams last year, but considering those Exams included an invasion, the resurrection of two Hokage, the death of another, and a jinchuuriki Hana’s not surprised that she doesn’t know that particular story.

“Let’s get a move on,” Hana says instead, “The sooner we find that damn cat the better.”

—

Of course, Tora has somehow embedded itself into a colony of giant tigers.

Three exploded trees later, the sudden appearance of a hippopotamus, and a literal rendition of catching a tiger by it’s tail, Team Hana presents a grumpy Tora to the Fire Daimyo’s wife.

Shikako is covered in mud, two of the Haimaru brothers have bald patches, and Neji’s shirt sports four greenish stains of questionable origins. But the Fire Lady is suitably impressed and pleased by the unspoiled condition of her beloved beleaguered cat.

Hana waits until the Fire Lady has left and immediately bursts out laughing. After a moment, Shikako joins in and Neji, maybe, has a smile curling on the side of his mouth. Well, even if this mission didn’t earn her experience toward jounin status, she can definitely say she’s having fun.

—

Weekly training sessions are put into place–not including missions, of course–and so every Thursday Team Hana gets together and plays far more games than a pair of chuunin and a special jounin probably ought to.

She confesses as much to her teammates, she doesn’t want to make it seem like she’s patronizing them, but a lot of her ideas for team building do revolve around what a trio of genin might like.

“I enjoy it,” Shikako reassures her, “Kakashi-sensei and I made a game when I first joined the Sensory Squad to help me hone this ability, so I look forward to these sessions,” she says.

After a moment’s pause, Neji adds, “They’re not unappreciated,” which is high praise from a Hyuuga indeed.

—

It’s another few weeks–another three missions–before Hana begins to notice something going on between her two teammates. It’s nothing major, and Hana might not have caught it at all if it weren’t for that Thursday when, with Shikako out on a mission, it was just Neji, her, and the Haimaru brothers.

It’s when she’s breaking the news to Neji–she’s captain, after all, and should be the one to keep track of her team–that something just clicks. Hyuuga’s are near inscrutable, of course, but that just means their rare emoting is all the more noticeable.

Sanji, ever observant and the brother most well-versed in human interaction, walks over to Neji’s side and leans heavily against his leg comfortingly. Fifty kilograms of dog causes him to stumble for a moment, but he indulges the affectionate gesture stoically and doesn’t even brush away the dark gray fur clinging to his clothes.


	24. Arm in Arm (no better team than you and me)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a DoSxPokemon fusion; based on [all the DoSxPokemon brainstorms](http://jacksgreysays.tumblr.com/tagged/pokemon)

The day the Nara clan head’s twins turn six years old, they are presented to the herd to be chosen.

The Sawsbuck of the herd observe with keen eyes, as if to assess the worthiness of the children, but, ultimately, it’s not up to them.

It’s up to the Deerling.

—

When Sasuke is six years old, his parents give him an egg as per the Uchiha tradition.

The first few years of the Academy do not require a Pokemon just yet, and the egg is as much a promise of one as the Pokeballs on some of his classmates’ belts.

When Sasuke is seven years old, his Fletchling hatches into a world with a severely diminished Uchiha clan and a greatly reduced flock.

—

Naruto thinks he found his Poliwag–trapped in some trash in a sewer drain, alone but still fighting strong–and, in a way, he’s right.

Long ago, Poliwhirls were the clan Pokemon of the Uzumaki.

It could also be said that his Poliwag found him.

—

In the ghost town that is the Uchiha clan compound, Sasuke hears cries at night.

For one heart stopping moment he thinks it is himself or some awful product of his internal grief, but his Fletchling leads him to the source of the sound.

It’s not pity when Sasuke adds Cubone to their team.

—

The Land of Fire is well named, fire type Pokemon nearly as abundant as trees in the forest.

Objectively, Growlithe puppies are common, nothing special at all.

Subjectively, Shikako’s Growlithe is extraordinary.

—

Naruto is an unrepentant troublemaker: loud and unruly and mischievous. A hassle and a headache and a half.

It makes sense that his Scrafty is one, too.

—

When she graduates from the Academy, Shikako chooses an Onix for her third.

It’s a bold choice, incongruous with the shy, soft-spoken image most know her by, but she’s very much her mother’s daughter.

Yoshino Nara has a Steelix on her belt and the spine to match.

—

When he graduates from the Academy, Sasuke chooses a Pawniard for his third.

He’s an avenger–he wants a weapon, not a friend–and he thinks this is the right choice.

It takes a long time for Pawniard to choose him in return.

—

Naruto doesn’t graduate from the Academy–not via the normal route anyway.

Instead, he is manipulated into breaking into the Hokage’s Tower to steal a Pokeball, told that he himself is the vessel of a demonic, impossible creature, and nearly killed by one of his Academy teachers.

Of course, he’s saved by Iruka-sensei and meets Mimikyu that night, so it’s not all bad.

—

Their first day as a team, the three of them are nonchalantly run into the ground by Kakashi-sensei’s Stoutland, Pakkun.

It’s as much a rude, embarrassing awakening as it is a bonding experience.

In the following weeks, in that same training ground, they all catch their fourths: star, sun, moon.

—

Land of Waves is a strange place to get a rock type Pokemon that looks like a tree, but Naruto’s never been one for conforming to people’s expectations either.

Voltorb literally comes to Shikako during the Konoha Chuunin Exams–beaten up, concussed, and outnumbered in the Forest of Death–as willing to go out with a bang as any of its species.

Jokes of cats and dogs aside, Sasuke will grudgingly admit that he only has his Luxio because of Kakashi-sensei and, if further pressed, will express gratitude.

—

No one wants to talk about the time Shikako got her Sableye.

It’s not Sableye’s fault–if anything, it’s because of Sableye that Shikako is still alive–but it’s not a fond memory for anyone.

The two of them keep the Sablenite a secret.

—

Naruto leaves Konoha with retired Elite Four Jiraiya, heart heavy in his throat but smile on his face anyway, determined.

The Emolga that joins his team reminds him that traveling doesn’t necessarily mean saying goodbye.

Sometimes it’s just about flying free.

—

Sasuke chose to stay, chose loyalty, chose Konoha–he just hates how trapped it makes him feel.

Shackled to the village, border patrol and gate guard duty, and no more freedom.

So he takes control of his own destiny: Sasuke joins ANBU, gets a Hawlucha, and breathes.


	25. Never Lookin' To Come Back

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a Firefly!AU with KibaxShikako

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> part of the [a softer ask box](http://archiveofourown.org/works/11406585) event

[ _You and I will never be a great love story._ ](http://www.asofterworld.com/index.php?id=946)   
[ _That’s okay!_ ](http://www.asofterworld.com/index.php?id=946)   
[ _Let’s see what kind of story we’ll be._ ](http://www.asofterworld.com/index.php?id=946)   
[ _(Oooh! Oooh! I hope it’s science fiction!)_ ](http://www.asofterworld.com/index.php?id=946)

—

“Again?” Shikako says, stepping out from the shadowed cover of the ship, “You don’t get hazard pay for starting a fight with a bunch of civilians.”

Kiba’s hackles don’t quite rise–never against her, not after what they’ve been through–but he does scowl something fierce, “It’s my shore leave, cap'n, I can spend it how I want.”

Akamaru, the traitor, wags his tail at the sight of her, whining a plaintive request to stop this whole disaster in the making.

“And what are you doing bringing Akamaru?” she asks, crouching down to scrub at his ears, “They don’t serve ninken on this rock, and it’s not fair to make him clean up your mess when he can’t even have fun, too.”

Akamaru barks an agreement.

“Get on back inside,” she says to him, head jerking toward the gangway, “I’ll deal with this idiot.”

He goes, claws clacking against the metal of the ramp as he heads back inside the ship.

Shikako stands up, meeting Kiba’s eyes in a familiar way that almost makes him want to bare his throat, “I’m not here to lecture you.”

“Sure feels like it.”

She rolls her eyes, “Come on,” she says, walking away, the tails of her long brown coat flapping behind her, “let’s get drunk and fight some Rooters.”

—

There’s a difference between being a part of Konoha and being a Rooter: the first is like a pair of shoes, too tight and constantly chafing, blisters forming, and yet unable to take them off.

The second is a knife to the back.

They’re not the same, and of course the latter is far worse, but it’s terribly easy to stab someone if they can’t run away, isn’t it?

—

On the bucket of bolts that is their ship, there are the following:

Two “reformed” brown coats whose ferry and delivery service may or may not include smuggling contraband.

Two mercenaries for hire who have never so much as killed a single person between them and have accidentally inspired, on more than one occasion, cult followings about their heroic deeds.

One mechanic from a far off moon who swears that no matter how talented she is, the ship is going to crash without a replacement grav unit, she means it this time.

One Organization member who rents the starboard shuttle and might be a high class escort or possibly an assassin, the jury’s still out on that one.

One Teacher of the Will of Fire who knows a suspicious amount about the inner workings of Konoha and is far more connected than a man who has given up his last name should be.

And one ninken who is way too skilled at opening locked doors, that food’s not for you, damnit Akamaru, spit it out.

On a somewhat fairly routine smuggle and ferry, their number goes up by two.

—

The four core planets of Konoha were Aburame, Akimichi, Hyuuga, and Uchiha.

During the Uprooting, the planet of Uchiha was destroyed, the blame pinned on the rebellion.

Whether they believed it or not, the tragedy galvanized the other three core planets into putting their full power behind bringing a swift end to the war…

… and Root, the jingoist half of what remains of the Senju Administration, filled the gap of the fourth power in Konoha.

—

“Go get me some passengers,” Shikako commands, waving an imperious hand out towards the town they’ve landed near. It’d be more impressive if she weren’t curled over face down on the table, awkwardly trying to eat porridge without lifting her head.

Regardless, it’s not exactly a new or surprising sight, not after the years of being her XO and the year before that of being her lieutenant. Still funny as hell, but not unexpected.

“Aye, aye, cap'n,” Kiba shoots back, not moving from his seat whatsoever. Akamaru huffs a doggy laugh, nosing upward for some rehydrated meat substance.

“I have to get some parts,” TenTen says, ignoring their captain’s disgraceful posture and petulant groaning, “I think I can make do with the current rotator belt, but the grav unit won’t survive another atmo crossing, captain.”

Shikako grunts.

“And I’m running low on duct tape,” TenTen adds, which, apparently, makes the request of vital importance: the credits are dispensed immediately.

“Lee, go with her. Now everyone leave me alone, I’m trying to eat.”

Four hours later, Naruto returns with a small herd of passengers practically throwing money at him–thankfully, after Kiba already stowed the contraband away, otherwise that’d be a disaster–and Lee and TenTen return with a different grav unit, a crate of duct tape, and a suspiciously posh looking man with suspiciously large luggage looking for a quick and discrete way off the planet who is willing to pay five times the rate. Suspiciously.

“We need the money,” Shikako mutters.

“I’m not saying we don’t,” Kiba argues, “I’m just saying that we definitely don’t need the trouble that comes with it.”

“Oh, now you’re worried about trouble?” she asks, a sardonic eyebrow raised.

“This is a different kind of trouble,” he says, nose wrinkling, “I can smell it.”

“How bad can it be?”

—

The daughter of the chancellor of the planet Hyuuga is missing.

Kidnapped, all official reports say.

It is a very bad kind of trouble.

* * *

* * *

 

[ _It was a sweet day when I realized_ ](http://asofterworld.com/index.php?id=469)   
[ _legal and illegal had nothing to do with_ ](http://asofterworld.com/index.php?id=469)   
[ _right and wrong._ ](http://asofterworld.com/index.php?id=469)   
[ _(Smash the state? Nah. I’ll just ignore it and hope it ignores me.)_ ](http://asofterworld.com/index.php?id=469)

—

If asked, each of them would say that it was the other who started it.

The smuggling, that is.

Sure, Kiba was the one who “found” that first crate of rations–marked as heading towards ROOT training facilities (and if they needed it so badly, they should have kept better track of it.) He was just being a dutiful XO when he brought it to the captain.

What happened after that was entirely her decision.

“I couldn’t just let that town starve,” she argues, magnanimous for a fleeting moment before continuing with, “… and we needed to offload it somehow.”

Kiba laughs, no matter how many times he’s heard it and the fact that he was there for it. It’s the telling of the story that makes it great, not the event itself.

///

According to the system, Lee has violated his parole.

The fact that someone as good and kind as Lee could ever even be arrested shows how flawed the system really is. The citizens of the small moon Lee calls home would say, too strict.

They would not say corrupt.

(Lee was arrested for defending a young girl from the mayor’s unwanted attentions.)

Not out loud, anyway.

The people of his hometown loved him, loved him enough to pool together their meager money and send him far away in a ship that could use another hand and didn’t look too closely at one’s legal background.

One day, Lee will go back home and free them from tyranny–until then, he sends the townspeople money and always wears the ugly orange leg warmers they send back.

///

No one outside of the Organization is actually sure what they are.

(“I’m putting my money on fancy hookers,” Kiba says, grin sharp and toothy and itching for a fight.

Not even the blankness of his face can mask the sheer irritation in Sasuke’s eyes.

“You better hope so,” TenTen responds, shifting over on the bench where Shino has kindly enough made space, “because if you’re wrong, you’re really gonna get it.”)

They’re beautiful and well trained, always on the arm of influential people and frequently at the scene of major incidents. Twice, they’ve had to make a quick get away at Sasuke’s behest, hours before news broke of some scandal and a sudden death.

Shikako learns it’s better not to ask.

Still, he does have very good connections to various port authorities, and so long as he pays his rent on time, she doesn’t mind what he might get up to.

///

According to the system, Naruto doesn’t exist.

If they knew he did, they’d kill him immediately.

None of them know it yet, but the most illegal thing on their ship isn’t the Hyuuga chancellor’s missing daughter, or the crates and crates of contraband.

No, it’s the key to the Core’s greatest and worst secret: the conspiracy to end all conspiracies.

The truth behind the destruction of Uzushio–the would have been fifth member of the core planets.


	26. Reasons To Keep Living

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a Princess Mononoke Fusion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> part of the [a softer ask box](http://archiveofourown.org/works/11406585) event

_[Our love is a forest fire](http://www.asofterworld.com/index.php?id=876) _   
_[ and we are the little things](http://www.asofterworld.com/index.php?id=876) _   
_[ that live in the trees.](http://www.asofterworld.com/index.php?id=876) _   
_[ (Today is the most exciting last day of our lives)](http://www.asofterworld.com/index.php?id=876) _

—

The forests around the growing town of Konoha are haunted. At night, there are sounds and shapes and lights and movements that make their way out of the thick curtain of trees; it is eerie and fearsome and beautiful.

If a man goes into the forest, he is never heard from again–or so it is said.

Good thing you are no man.

///

The stranger has travelled from far away lands, dressed in strange clothes and riding a long horned deer.

She comes in search of a cure for her brother and she knows she is in the right place:

Either it will be found in the town at the forefront of progress, or it will be in the forest of magic and miracles.

///

All your life you have been told to stay away from the forest. There are dangerous things in there, beasts and monsters and horrors–a good son would not make his parents worry so, just look at your brother, what an upstanding young man.

But they are too enamored by him to notice you, and you are ever so curious about what secrets are within.

When you are told to act as the stranger’s guide, you see an opportunity to fulfill a lifelong dream.

///

You’ve been to the town before–it’s your best kept secret, because if your father knew, he’d eat you, just as he’s always said.

You love the forest, of course you do, it’s your home: the cave where you and your father curl up together for warmth, the rivers where the otter clan chatter and play their tricks, up in the treetops the monkey clan howl and down below the boar clan stampede.

You love your home, but you want to see the world outside of it.

///

The kodama come out at sunset, when the Shishigami walks the forest and begins to transform; they watch and click their curious little heads, observing a phenomena that has happened daily for centuries and yet is still so breathtaking.

Sometimes, the fox boy joins them, head tilting in unison, mesmerized.

Sometimes, from the very top of the town walls, the second son can see the top of the Night Walker’s head breaching the canopy.

They both wait, though they don’t know it, for the stranger to arrive.

* * *

* * *

_[The sun is shining](http://asofterworld.com/index.php?id=1243) _   
_[ and the birds are singing](http://asofterworld.com/index.php?id=1243) _   
_[ …](http://asofterworld.com/index.php?id=1243) _   
_[ …](http://asofterworld.com/index.php?id=1243) _   
_[ and because today is the very last day](http://asofterworld.com/index.php?id=1243) _   
_[ they will sing forever.](http://asofterworld.com/index.php?id=1243) _   
_[ (listen while you can)](http://asofterworld.com/index.php?id=1243) _

—

Something is strange about the town of Konoha, though you’re not sure what exactly. It niggles at the top of your head, a phantom thought that is there one moment and gone the next.

But you stay silent. Who are you to cast judgement on these people, on their lives? Especially when they’ve been so hospitable.

They will aid you as best they can, so long as you do not look too closely.

—

The stranger is the first of a wave, coincidentally, soon after follows a troop of hunters on orders from the emperor.

Eternal life in exchange for killing a god.

They just need a weapon strong enough to do so.

—

Your father is restless. Prowling around and making ominous statements more than usual, picking fights with the other clans and snapping his fangs at empty air.

You do not dare sneaking into the town while he’s like this, possessively paranoid, constantly on your tail.

You don’t understand what’s happening. You’ve never seen him like this before.

Something terrible is coming.

You’ve never seen him afraid.

—

The stranger is your responsibility, and she’s an interesting one at first–you’ve grown tired of the same people and the same rhythms. The stranger is a breath of fresh air in your stagnant life, and you appreciate the change.

But you notice, after the second day, that there is more to this duty your family has assigned you. You are more distraction than tour guide, and vice versa, it seems.

Your brother and your parents stop talking whenever you enter a room, stranger at your side or not.

They do not trust you.

—

Heijomaru was the one that brought you here, footsteps certain for a reason beyond your knowledge.

Still, you have faith.

The town does not have what you need, or if they do they aren’t saying.

To the forest you go, then.


	27. Indelible

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> spinoff of the second AU of [Dreaming of S(oulmates), (two: inkblot skin)](http://archiveofourown.org/works/7607458/chapters/19764403)

Shinobi will try to weaponize anything, a subconscious mindset more than active strategy: the symbiotic relationship of Aburame and their kikaichu, Inuzuka and their ninken, are just two examples of such.

Fuinjutsu had originally been created to transport Uzushio’s limited, but varied resources across their islands.

Even something as innocuous as flowers–the Yamanaka as much feared for their poisonous arrangements as their mind jutsu.

Soul marks–the transfer of ink and scars and blood from one soulmate to the other–are not exempt either.

///

The main issues preventing soul marks from monopolizing intel communications is that they’re not comprehensive and they’re not immediate.

Sometimes, something as insignificant as scraped knees or absentminded grocery lists will transfer over, while death blows and I love you’s remain on only one half. There doesn’t seem to be any correlation in emotion or strength of bond to explain what gets send and what doesn’t. And so something as important as mission specs or front line movements could never be entrusted to soul marks.

On top of that, any of them may transfer in minutes, in hours, in days–the longest recorded gap being three weeks. Again, nothing explaining the inconsistency: not distance, or age, or emotion.

But still, that doesn’t mean that soul marks don’t have very real, very dire consequences.

///

When his children are almost four years old, they both begin to wear headbands and refuse to take them off in front of anyone.

It doesn’t take a Nara to figure out the why, but the what, exactly, he will later admit to being… hasty.

In his defense, soulmates tend to be born near each other and there’s only one forehead mark in Konoha that is regularly covered up. Given that Shikaku has heard about what ought to be an internal Hyuuga clan matter–the marking of Neji Hyuuga at an abnormally young age, cruel even for a clan that habitually enslaves their own members–it’s a fairly logical assumption to make.

What he does afterwards is less logical and more… fiercely protective.

///

The Byakugan may not have been as storied as the Sharingan, but the Hyuuga’s dojutsu was more dependable and with the decline of the Uchiha–in both numbers and reputation–the Hyuuga enjoyed a loftier, more lenient position than many other clans. Even the other noble clans.

In comparison to the Aburame–whose southern apiaries had been decimated during the Kyuubi attack–and the Akimichi, who spent as much time cultivating their financial and political enterprises as they did their martial prowess, the Hyuuga were more invaluable to Konoha.

But invaluable does not mean immune.

///

They meet, once, while they’re both still at the Academy.

It’s difficult. They’re in different years, which is part of it, but primarily it’s because all of Konoha is keenly aware of the political cold war happening between the clans and all of the teachers are taking measures to prevent any incidents from happening.

Further incidents, that is: a spar turned hostile in the graduating class, resulting in suspensions for the Akimichi and Hyuuga involved. Invisible lines drawn amongst the students from clans, rearranging friendships and even future genin team proposals.

As the pair at the heart of the problem, they are especially monitored. But just once, just for a short time, they manage to meet.

Neither of them will reveal what was said, but afterwards Neji goes without a headband: baring his cursed seal provocatively, almost incendiary.

Shikako becomes all the more paranoid about hers.

///

Eventually, it’s revealed that Shikamaru’s forehead is as blank as the day he was born but, one twin or both, that doesn’t alter the path Konoha is already on.

In contrast, the Uchiha clan, sensing the winds of change, circumvent their fate entirely: allying themselves with the enemy of their enemy and integrating back into, at least, half of the village. Hundreds of lives are spared, though only Danzo, thwarted, and Shikako know.

Not all is good, though: Hinata, already shy and secluded, is deliberately isolated. Where Ino leads, the other girls of the class follow; even though Shikako tries to mitigate the issue, Ino is ruthless in defending what she considers hers.

The mood of Konoha is fraught, tensions high enough for even the civilians to notice, streets of peace and prosperity now dangerous opportunities for public altercations.

Such a small action leading to such far reaching consequences.

Time marches on.

///

Konoha puts on a pleasant face for the Chuunin Exams, united only on the surface in front of foreign shinobi.

Team Seven meets the Sand siblings, Shikako sees the match to her soul mark.

She hesitates.


	28. Changeling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part of the ask box fake fic title event. Prompted by donapoetrypassion: "The Nara are not like the ninja clans that must pay the Fae in blood, or gold, or a child from their clan: whenever a Nara child is stillborn, the parents are bound to foster a Fae child their place."

To say that the Shodaime Hokage created the forests around what would become the sight of Konohagakure is an exaggeration at best and an outright lie at worst.

It’s true that the Hashirama trees are the first type that villagers learn to identify as children–prevalent in most parks and training grounds, a protective ring around the walls–but the forest itself is far older than that; far greater.

Far less human.

///

Yoshino is in labor for a grueling forty six hours–more blood, sweat, and tears than even the worst battle–but she knows it’ll be worth it, prays to every god she can think of that it’ll be worth it.

When finally it’s done, that last exhausting push, she can barely catch her breath, barely stay awake, and yet she claws at consciousness desperately.

Why is there only one baby crying?

///

The Nara clan live close to the earth: their herds and their trees and theirs shadows upon the ground. They are intelligent, taking their own time and space, and for that they are looked upon fondly.

Most of the time, that’s a good thing.

///

There is a tree, deep within the Nara clan compound, old and gnarled and kept secret.

In that tree, there is a hollow, cleaned monthly but left empty.

Tonight, with Kasuga and Sembei at his back, Shikaku places the small, shrouded bundle inside.

///

It has been a long time since the Nara clan were given a gift from the other side.

An honor and risk, both.

The rest of the village has no idea what they’re in for.


	29. Smile At The Stars

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part of the ask box fake fic title event. Prompted by anonymus: "Yoshino, Shikaku, and their grandchildren." Related to [Our Share of the World](http://archiveofourown.org/works/6945079/chapters/18208171) and [Walking Around (Like Regular People)](http://archiveofourown.org/works/6945079/chapters/18254404)

Shikaku is the last to find out about his first grandchild, heading home after work to find his wife and daughter surrounded by piles of storage scrolls.

“This is archaic, Mum,” Shikako says, unsealing a scroll, glancing over the contents, then resealing them again. “Toddler clothes.”

“Oh, set those aside, dear, he’ll need them soon enough,” Yoshino instructs, going through her own set of scrolls–linens, hideous, but an heirloom of the clan head’s line–and putting them away.

“How are you supposed to find anything like this? I can make you a new set of sealing scrolls–or a custom Hammerspace!”

“These work just fine still, Shikako, it’d be a waste to get rid of them–ah! I think this is it.” From Yoshino’s scroll appears a crib, sturdy and steady and capable of withstanding a D-rank jutsu, the same one that carried all three of their children.

That seems like just yesterday, surely it’s not already time to pass it down?

“What’s going on here?”

He can’t possibly be that old already.

His wife and daughter both turn to him before glancing at each other, Yoshino’s expression clearly urging Shikako to explain.

“Well… Dad… um…”

His sons enter the hallway, Kinokawa making silly faces at the baby in Shikamaru’s arms. The red-haired baby in Shikamaru’s arms who reaches out towards Shikako upon spotting her.

He passes the baby over to his sister almost reluctantly and Kinokawa follows, adoringly.

“This is Kareru Uzumaki, he’s my son.” Shikako says, steeling herself unnecessarily; both of Shikaku’s sons take after him.

///

Shikako’s pregnancy is a frustrating, frightening time for all within her vicinity–nothing inspires crankiness and bizarre seals like consecutive nights of sleeplessness. Yoshino remembers being much the same during her own time with the twins, so she is patient.

Still, there comes a point when a mother is done indulging…

… which just so happens to be the same point as when said mother finds her pregnant daughter on the roof of the house in the middle of the night armed with buckets of paint and a brush.

It takes promises of hot cocoa and secrecy to coax her down, safely bundled in a blanket on the sofa, but Yoshino feels much better now that she’s on the ground.

“I’m so tired,” Shikako says, voice cracking with desperation, and so Yoshino tops up her mug.

“You can rest here, sweetheart, you’re safe.” She remembers the paranoia of her daughter’s earlier teen years, perhaps her hormones have kicked it into overdrive.

But Shikako just shakes her head. “I can’t, I can’t,” she repeats, “She needs me, she needs my chakra, I can’t go to sleep. She needs me.”

Yoshino feels a chill go down her spine.

“How does everyone else do this? I’m so tired.”

Pregnancy is supposed to be difficult, yes, but not like that. Not so consciously, actively, impossibly involved.

No more indulging, no more patience.

It takes more than hot cocoa to get Shikako to go to the hospital, but Yoshino knows best.

///

They do not often see their grandchildren from Sand, almost never altogether–that one trip to Wind Country aside, of course–and so it’s a pleasure to have the house full again.

Shikaku enjoys having extra sets of hand to feed the deer–especially ones that still find novelty in the chore, awed at the shy creatures and their forested homes–and Yoshino enjoys having victims to run through her morning stretches.

It’s unfortunate for them, of course, as they are not as flexible as their Konoha siblings and cousin, but they complain far less. Or perhaps are far quieter about it.

Shinki, at least, seems to take it as an opportunity to improve himself–never mind that his almost literal iron spine makes it more difficult–but Araya and Yodo spend more time trying to push each other over while Yoshino looks away.

Not that she isn’t aware of their little competition, but why not let them have their fun?

Shikaku is the one who rescues them and gives them a tour of the village, no better guide than the retired former Jounin Commander after all, before bringing them back to the Nara Clan compound where both their parents await them.

Which is still an odd thought–if anyone had told them that the Kazekage would one day be father to three of their grandchildren, well, the future is an interesting place, indeed.


	30. Foundation of Yesterday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part of the [Ask Box Advent Calendar](https://archiveofourown.org/works/11405592/chapters/25547247), prompted by anonymous, based on [this brainstorm](https://jacksgreysays.tumblr.com/post/167758273219/foundation-of-yesterday-shikakogaara).
> 
> A sort of reverse of [Stories of Ancient Gods](https://archiveofourown.org/works/6945079/chapters/15838828)\--this time the Naruto world is the long ago precursor of the FFVII world instead of the other way around.

_The Shichidaime Hokage goes missing without a trace. The Elemental Nations begin to freak out: it’s been decades since the world was so close to destruction, but that their primary defender has gone is alarming._

_It is only the beginning._

—

Kaguya is uncovered from her icy prison and experimented on, the foolish mortals playing at gods, but their folly shall be her triumph.

Her first two sons were traitors, but her third? Oh, she’s certain Sephiroth will do her proud.

—

_There is an unstoppable countdown, jinchuuriki disappearing despite everyone’s best efforts as if chakra itself were reclaiming them._

_Shikako and Sasuke have not stopped searching for Naruto but their hope is steadily dwindling._

_They are running out of miracles._

—

Vincent knows his eyes are unnerving–unnatural, demonic–but Lucrecia is the first to ever say she loves them.

Too bad she loves science more.

But honestly, the cursed existence that follows after his death isn’t entirely her fault.

—

_“It’s time to sleep,” Gaara tells his children, a bewildering, solemn statement from the only remaining jinchuuriki. It’s the last clue they get before he, too, disappears._

_For Shikako, it’s also the last straw._

—

When Yuffie is six, father gives her a necklace, the pendant a dark stone with shining green flecks–a family heirloom: if she protects it, it will protect her in turn.

Obviously just a superstition, Yuffie thinks years later as her homeland is conquered and destroyed.

Not quite.

—

_The loss of the jinchuuriki is never solved, and though sad, time marches on. Children grow up, take their own place as heroes and leaders, and eventually it becomes just another tale to tell._

_They never think to connect it to the vanishing Shikabane-hime._

—

Where a Strife walks, trouble follows, names well earned. They are living, breathing natural disasters, bringers of storms and change.

It’s not a coincidence that they end up in Nibelheim.

—

The Planet works in mysterious ways.


	31. Ascendant

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> an attempt at Danzo's POV

Tobirama-sensei chooses Hiruzen and something you didn’t even know existed within you shatters.

Everything after that is just collateral damage.

—

The first is an accident.

Or, at least, that’s what the report will say.

A training accident, two wartime soldiers unable to readjust to peacetime sparring.

A misunderstanding, you say, still covered in your teammate’s blood. You thought it was a genjutsu, luring you into a false sense of security.

It’s not completely improbable, is the thing. Kagami is–was–the most mischievous of the now disassembled Team Tobirama, with a flare for genjutsu and tricks. A smile and bright captivating eyes that had nothing to do with the Sharingan.

An Uchiha that even the most stalwart Senju trusted.

The first is an accident.

Decades down the line, you’re not certain if that’s true anymore.

—

Second and third are easy, the wrong words whispered at the right time.

You are not the only one who got skipped over.

Why Hiruzen? How is he more worthy than us? Were we not all students of the Hokage?

Politics, you’ll hiss at them, a blade sliding between ribs right into their hearts.

An enticing weapon, but ultimately a trap.

Shisui’s eye is a redundancy.

—

Fourth bows out before you can do anything.

Torifu was there during the first, he remembers it as well as you do.

Better maybe.

He steps aside and for that you turn your attention away from him, from his clan, and their vassals.

In your last moments, you will wonder if that was your fatal mistake.

—

For a while, you think that is enough. Prove your worth and sweep away those in front of you, it is only a matter of time before Hiruzen’s weakness provides an opportunity.

But time does not stand still. Soon fifth through seventh arise.

Children, compared to you. Literally. Hiruzen’s students. What do they know of war? Of sacrifice? They do not have the experience.

But youth and talent–and pedigree in young Tsunade’s case–is not something so easily dismissed.

For now you can do nothing–nothing overt, at least–but they are primed to tear themselves apart.

It doesn’t take much to help that along.

—

Eighth, you almost regret.

He is the youngest, certainly, but you were once a child in war–surely if your sensei’s grand nephew were actually worthy, he would have survived.

Perhaps it’s the loss of the Mokuton that you regret.

—

The ninth was never truly a threat, a dreaming boy with no real claim.

But Konoha was built on dreams and you will not let some upstart stand in your way.

—

The White Fang of Konoha, a silly moniker that somehow strikes fear into enemy hearts.

As formidable on his own as Hiruzen’s brats are altogether.

No, this won’t do at all.

It is not enough for him to die, you need to destroy him utterly–his career, his reputation, his spirit.

You are ruthless with the tenth.

—

Every so often, you push them along–fifth and sixth and seventh succumbing to their own flaws–weaknesses that would have been exploited by enemies of Konoha.

Cowardice, fear, so quick to run away from what should be her only priority.

Obsessive and vain, so easy to distract and lead astray.

Foolish and sentimental, desperate for approval.

You are protecting your village by exposing them–what else reason could there be?

—

(You overreached with The Salamander, the man who titled Hiruzen’s students. You thought it would be a simple trade of services, a mutual extermination of brats.

But foreign shinobi are hardly worth the effort; the deal is dropped.

Konoha first.)

—

(Uzushio is a separate matter, but their lives are long and their memories longer.

Mito-sama was always biased against you.

Konoha will never be able to achieve its true potential with them forever poised above.)

—

Time marches on.

You uproot those you can, prune those you can’t, but they sprout like weeds beneath your feet.

That absolute infant that Hiruzen chooses may have made a name for himself during the war, but he is nothing more than dandelion fluff easily blown away in the breeze.

Konoha is better off without him.

—

You remember the first.

Uchiha that even the most stalwart Senju could trust.

There might as well be no more Senju, but the sentiment applies. Shisui follows in Kagami’s footsteps and the clan head’s brat has far too much potential.

You remember the first.

You remember that Konoha was built by two clans.

One is near to extinct. Surely the village can also survive without the other.

—

Hiruzen is old, weighed down by years and loss and having to put on the hat for a second time.

Or so he says.

You wouldn’t know, you’ve never worn it.

He is so completely unaware of all that you do for Konoha, so blind and soft. He walks amongst the villagers, a kindly, foolish grandfather instead of the unyielding pillar of strength that he should be.

He is a disgrace.

(He was your friend, once.

Now he is forever imprisoned within the belly of the Shinigami.)

—

(Kagami was your friend, once, too.)

—

Everything is just collateral damage.


End file.
